Catastrophe
by DarkElements10
Summary: Adrien's relationship with his father has reached its breaking point and he's pulling further away from everyone, hurting Marinette despite how closely they have to work together on a school project. When the pain becomes too much to bear he takes to the night and finds an enemy that's targeting him. Something's gotta give and Adrien isn't sure when he falls he'll land on his feet.
1. Chapter 1

**Catastrophe**

 **By: Riley**

 **Summary – ** Adrien's relationship with his father has reached the breaking point and it's causing him to pull further and further away from everyone, hurting Marinette. One night when the pain becomes too much to bear, he takes to the night and finds a new enemy that targets him specifically. Something's gotta give and he isn't sure that when he falls he'll land on his feet.

* * *

 **Chapter 01**

* * *

Adrien raked a hand through his hair, averting the urge to continuously play with the strands until they fell perfectly in front of his face. It had now become a nervous habit. He used to be able to sit quietly, sit so still that he could be almost invisible until he moved. He used to be as cool and stoic as a statue. Now he had nervous habits. As he sat at the end of the long dining table, the long, _empty_ dining table, he tried not to have his mind wander to the thoughts that would bog him down. He always hated how long the table was. Why did they need such an extravagant piece of furniture when he was the only one that used it on a daily basis? For keeping up appearances. It was drilled into his head by Nathalie Sancoeur, his father's assistant nearly every time he asked.

But who cared what everyone else thought? The residents of Paris had to know that he and his father had a lot of money as it was; he was one of the most famous fashion designers in the world. But that didn't mean they had to throw their wealth around. Bringing his hand up, Adrien started to turn the silver ring that wrapped around his finger, another subconscious movement. He couldn't help it; no matter where his father was concerned he was nervous, unsure of what the reactions to any of what Adrien had to say was going to be. It was starting to get really bad; he flinched whenever his father raised his voice, instinctively took a step back whenever his father came close to him, became more sullen and silent when his father was in his presence.

And he hated it.

He hated everything he had become. But what he hated the most, what he _loathed_ more than anything in the world was how much he still loved his father. How much he would allow himself to sacrifice to make his father happy. How much he wanted to prove that he was worth…everything. Adrien wanted to make him nothing short of proud; to get a smile in response of his achievements, to have words of encouragement when he was feeling down, to know that his father was there for him no matter what. Instead he got a man that was so into raising him like a 'man' and to not be so 'sensitive'. Things were much easier when he as younger; when his father saw that his school endeavors needed to be attended so that he could show his face and prove that he was a good father all without him knowing. It was better rather than the few photo opportunities that Adrien was required to attend to help his father as well as to enhance his own modeling career.

A career he didn't even want.

At first he thought he was just taking pictures for fun. Then his father broke it to him that it was his job, that he was to put his foot in the fashion world with that job and it was his responsibility to keep it going. Everything had been decided for him.

Well, nearly everything. With a smile he looked down at his plate to watch his kwami, Plagg, tackle the piece of brie that sat upon crackers lining the plate. He always did have an appetite and, unfortunately his favorite pieces were that of the smelliest of cheeses.

"You think you want to slow down a bit?" Adrien asked Plagg, moving his fingers to pick up a cracker. He gave a disgruntled sigh as Plagg rocketed over to the cheese that sat atop the cracker and hissed at Adrien, marking his territory.

"Not when you're going to tempt me with such good food," Plagg replied. He turned his back on Adrien and opened his mouth wide, dropping the slice of cheese into his mouth. He smiled as he chewed and leaned back, running his paws of his face. "Ohhh, so good!"

"I'm glad someone's enjoying it."

With that, Plagg turned back towards Adrien and cast him a concerned glance. It was strange for Plagg, who was a bit selfish in his own right, but over the past few months…Plagg had started to take more interest in Adrien's demeanor. Especially in terms of the fights they were going on through the streets of Paris.

"Adrien," he started. "You—"

All of a sudden Adrien heard footsteps coming his way and he motioned for Plagg to hide, causing his kwami to immediate come off of the plate and dart into the hood of Adriens' gray hoodie. The teen boy looked up, green eyes widening when he spotted his father walking across the dining room towards him in long, serious strides. Nathalie scurried behind her, her eyes wide with apprehension, darting back and forth from Gabriel to Adrien back to Gabriel. As Adrien watched his father draw closer, his breathing became ragged, heart hammering in his throat so hard he was sure it could be seen alongside his Adam's apple. He could even feel Plagg shaking against his back.

"Hi, father—"

"—Don't you dare!" Gabriel slammed his hand down onto the table next to Adrien making the teen and the dishes jump. Reaching out, Adrien picked up his glass that had fallen onto its side, spilling milk across the mahogany. Almost mechanically, Adrien reached out to mop it up with his napkin despite the maid that rushed to his side, appearing form nowhere at the sound of the falling dishes. He immediately recoiled once his father made a sweeping gesture of his arm and knocked everything to the floor. "Don't you _dare_ try to talk your way out of this! You have some explaining to do!" He grabbed Adrien's arm and pulled him forward, forcing him to look at the document he had slapped onto the table. "Explain!"

Adrien's eyes moved down to the sheet of paper, that he thought he had hidden away so carefully, and winced when he spotted his grades staring him in the face. They weren't good; though in his defense it wasn't _entirely_ his fault. He had missed a lot of classes due to photo shoots he couldn't miss or else he'd face his father's wrath…but then he couldn't let his grades lower of he'd face his father's grasp. That's why he had hidden his grades as soon as he received them, thinking of the best way to explain it.

"Uh…I, uh…"

He cried out in pain as his forehead was suddenly slammed against the table. Not enough so that he would get a concussion or permanent damage, but enough to hurt, enough to possibly bruise. Enough so he knew not to do it again.

"You're a disgrace," Gabriel spat. He leaned closer to Adrien and the teen could smell the alcohol on his breath, rancid and warm. "You have done nothing but continue to embarrass me at each and every turn. I gave you your modeling career and you repay me by failing all of your _classes_!" He pulled Adrien's head back once more, this time clamping onto his neck with a vice grip. "No son of mine is going to drop out of school. Get it together!"

Dropping Adrien's neck, Gabriel turned on his heel and walked out of the dining room once more, pausing briefly to look at the maid that was on her hands and knees, painstakingly attempting to pick up every piece of broken china. "Make sure you get it all," he spat before leaving the room.

Nathalie paused between the two of them, unsure of what to do, before she followed Gabriel out of the room. Shaking, Adrien pushed back the chair and leapt up from his seat. He raced out of the dining room, through the massive foyer, and out the gates into the streets of Paris. Running as hard and fast as he could, he tried to push away the thoughts of his father that continued to follow him. Every corner he turned the feeling of his father's eyes continued to follow him.

He continued to move until he couldn't feel his feet and he crashed to his knees, gasping for air. His lungs burned, his muscles ached, but at least he managed to get away from his father. He felt a strange struggling sensation against his back before Plagg managed to find his way out of Adrien's hood and hovered around to his front.

"Adrien, are you okay?" He asked.

With a small smile, Adrien reached out his hands and allowed Plagg to plot down into his palms, looking up at him with his bright green eyes. Even his kwami's ears dropped with anxiety.

"I'm okay," he finally said. "Don't worry."

Adrien suddenly stiffened as he sensed something drawing nearer to him. Standing up, he tilted his head to the side, directing his ear towards the sound. Rapid footsteps, the feeling of danger coming closer. He could feel a chill roll down his spine. With a frown of determination, he turned his attention to Plagg, who continued to sit in his hands.

"Plagg," he cried. "Claws out!"

Plagg lifted from Adrien's hands and circled the air before disappearing into Adrien's ring. With a surge of power, Adrien's spandex suit covered his body until he became his superhero alter ego, Cat Noir. Reaching behind him, he pulled out his staff and elongated it, turning the point in the direction of the danger.

Lifting his head, Adrien looked at the rooftop that sat across from him and spotted a figure in a white spandex suit, illuminated by the moon that rose high in the sky, the rays glinting off the scythe that rested loosely at her fingertips. "Here little kitty," the figure purred mockingly. "Do you want to come out and play?"

Cat Noir snarled his upper lip curling. He watched as the figure leapt off the roof and landed on the ground in front of him, still holding onto the scythe. She smoothed her hair out of her face and transfixed Adrien with a malicious smile.

"Not that I'm giving you a choice," she added as if an afterthought.

"I'm sorry you feel the need for a _paw-_ se, but why don't we cut to the chase!" With that, Cat Noir launched himself towards her.

At least he now had a constructive way to release his frustration.

* * *

 **A/N:** First chapter is always short. Anyway, Miraculous just aired in the US and I already love it. Even though I'm older than the age range for it it's a pretty cute show. So I thought I would try my hand at a story. That being said, I liked the original idea the show was going to have so in this Adrien and Marinette are 17 or 18 or so and there are darker themes within the story as you can already see with this chapter. But, I haven't decided whether or not I want them together yet, so thoughts on that would be great.

Be forewarned that despite having studied French in school from 1st grade to senior year of college I'm not well versed in French culture other than quick Google searches and what I've learned from my classes. That being said I apologize if I get something wrong over the course of the story and if you notice anything _please_ (respectfully) feel free to point it out so I can fix it.

 **Cheers,**

 **-Riles**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 02**

* * *

"Up? Down? Up? Down?"

Marinette frowned as she examined herself in the mirror she propped up in front of her computer, her hands dug into her raven hair, alternatively pulling it up and down, studying the hair styles that came from it. She had always worn pigtails and now she wanted to try a different style. Being the same was so boring. She needed to stand out.

Her eyes trailed down from her mirror to the background of her desktop computer and smiled a warm, almost gushy smile once her gaze landed on Adrien. Okay, so maybe she was trying to figure out a new hairstyle for him. Though he hadn't really seemed to notice whenever she did anything different with her appearance before. He was a guy and unless it was spelled out for them they didn't notice. And she wasn't going to cut her hair; that was completely out of the question. An updo or leaving it down was definitely the best way to go. But she hadn't worn her hair down in a long time, not since she was three or four.

 _Maybe an up do is too sophisticated,_ Marinette thought as she continued to scrutinize her reflection, turning this way and that. _It's not like you're going to be in his next photo shoot or anything._ She cringed, thinking of the time she had been close to being Adrien's 'muse' for a photo shoot in the park. Things would have gone well if it weren't for Stormy Weather attacking and Manon being the girl that was chosen. The pictures turned out great, even better than she thought, and Manon had a great time. Still, there was a part of her that was still disappointed. She hadn't had any chances like that since then.

Not that she and Adrien weren't close. Well…

 _Oh this is getting so confusing,_ Marinette thought, shaking her head. She liked this guy so much and yet she couldn't string a sentence together around him. Who wouldn't do that? She talked to guys all the time, in her father's bakery, on the street in passing, her classmates, and it was only Adrien that managed to reduce her to a quivering mess of jelly. But he wasn't like all the other boys he was…he was…

"Marinette?"

Eyes widening at the sound of her father's voice, Marinette slowly turned towards him as he stood in the doorway of her room. Their eyes locked and she noticed the odd expression on his face. Normally he looked at her with so much love and light that his eyes nearly always sparkled and now…Oh. Oh right. Marinette's hands were dug into her hair in strange looking puffballs. She had seen that style in a magazine and wondered what it would look like if she tried, or if Adrien would even like it. Judging by her father's expression it certainly was not working.

"Oh. Heh heh." Quickly removing her hands from her hair, Marinette moved her mouse so that her desktop screen was blackened. She spun around in her seat and faced her father with a sheepish grin. Unbelievable, seventeen years old and she still managed to embarrass herself…and, as she noticed, her father didn't knock before entering the room. Actually, she couldn't even remember if she closed the door. _That's not the point, Marinette. He wanted to ask you something._ "Uh, yes Dad?"

Tom Dupain glanced at his daughter for a moment, an amused smile coming to his face as his eyes continued to shine. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I was, uh…seeing what my hair looks like when…I'm doing push-ups," Marinette explained. Then she winced. She could've just said she was trying out different hair styles. Wherever Adrien was concerned, her brain seemed to turn to mush as well. "Was there something you wanted?"

"Yes, I wanted you to try this new recipe I thought we could start using in the store," Tom declared, motioning to the plate that was held in his hand. Marinette studied the croissant that rested on the plate, taking in the powdered sugar dusting on top. But it smelled so delicious. Reaching out a hand, Marinette grabbed the sample and quickly took a bite. "It's a breakfast croissant, ham, cheese, and parsley with a powdered sugar dusting to off-set the saltiness of the ham." He looked at his daughter expectantly. "What do you think?"

Marinette chewed for a few moments then her eyes lit up. Her father was right, the sweet off-set the salty perfectly. She could eat a dozen of them. "This is great, Dad! It'll be a hit with all of our customers. I'm sure everyone will love it."

"I'm glad you approve," Tom said with a warm smile. He leaned over and kissed his daughter on the side of the head. "I couldn't put this out without my best helper's opinion. I'll start selling them tomorrow."

"They'll be great." Marinette turned back to her mirror. She then paused. Breakfast. A croissant. _I could bring Adrien one! He's usually late to class as it is, because of his photo shoots, maybe I could bring him some breakfast._ Her heart leapt up and started to race in excitement. That would get him to notice her; it would be such a nice gesture. He would smile and thank her and she would mention that it was a new recipe that she helped her father come up with—or at least approve—and he would be so impressed…

Before she knew it, Marinette was lost in her dreamland of herself and Adrien married and living on the country side with their three kids and their dog running around. She would be an accomplished fashion designer and he would still be pursuing his modeling as well as fencing and piano…she had just moved onto the thought of how they would be a unified front when disciplining their kids—so they turned out perfectly—when something red flashed across her view. With a startled cry, Marinette pushed herself backwards, forgetting that chair had wheels on it, and launched herself backwards across her room. She then recognized the red blur that had moved by her eyes and let out a sigh of relief, bringing a hand up to her chest.

"Tikki," she scolded. "You scared me."

"I'm sorry, Marinette, but you need to get going," Tikki apologized, her bulbous head moving back and forth as she hovered in front of her. "I was just downstairs, watching your father make some more of those yummy croissants—"

"—Tikki!" Marinette's blue eyes widened even further. "I told you that you're not supposed to be out of my sight. If my Mom or Dad saw you—"

"Cat Noir needs your help!" Tikki interrupted. "Your parents were watching TV and there was a new shot of Cat Noir fighting against someone dressed in white. I didn't get a good look. Cat Noir looked like he really needed some help."

Now Marinette's eyes widened in recognition of the seriousness of the situation. Not only was it unheard of for Hawk Moth to attack so late at night, but if there was news footage, the fight had been going on for some time. And if Cat Noir used his Cataclysm too early…Surging to her feet, Marinette moved to close her bedroom door, after making sure her father wasn't about to come up and show her another creation he had made. Once she was sure she as allow, she turned to Tikki with a determined smile. "Tikki, Spots on!" she declared.

Tikki nodded and zoomed into Marinette's earring and with a surge of power she transformed into Ladybug. She pushed open the windows to her room and leapt out, making her way to Cat Noir's location. She arrived just in time to watch Cat Noir get flung back into the side of a parked car after landing a solid blow into the figure in white. Ladybug landed beside him and grabbed onto his arm, pulling him out of harm's way as the figure leapt forward to attack him once more.

"It's about time you show up, My Lady," he remarked, quickly maneuvering himself to his feet. Before Ladybug could react, Cat Noir grabbed her hand and kissed the top of it.

She quickly pulled her hand out of his grasp and took a step back, crossing her arms. "About time to save your butt, _again_ ," she commented to which Cat Noir gave a noncommittal shrug. She turned back towards the figure. "What do we have here? Hawk Moth sending out another akumatized super villain?"

"Seems like it," Cat Noir replied. He twirled his staff in his hand, crouching low to the ground. "This one seems to have more a vendetta this time. Against me."

Ladybug turned her attention to the figure as she picked up her yo-yo and held it tightly in her hand. Her eyes scanned the figure and recognized it as a girl with a wolf-esque body suit. She frowned. It didn't seem like an akumaitzed monster they were used to but it was best not to treat her lightly. Maybe Hawk Moth managed to make his monsters harder to defeat without all of the ridiculous outfits the others managed to get. But a wolf?

"I see you've managed to charm someone else," Ladybug commented.

Cat Noir smirked as he glanced over at her. "No need to be jealous, My Lady. I only have eyes for you."

"And yet that doesn't comfort me." With that, Ladybug shot forward, twirling her yo-yo around her head, then threw it. The wolf villain got it wrapped around her leg and Ladybug pulled hard on the line, bringing the wolf's legs out from underneath her. She crashed hard to the ground with a low, animalistic growl.

"If you think it's going to be that easy, then you're sadly mistaken." With that, she summoned her scythe once more and swung it at an angle. Not to cut the rope of her yo-yo, but to yank the yo-yo out of Ladybug's hand. She watched in dismay as it skittered across the ground seconds before Cat Noir landed in front of her fending off the swift attack the wolf shot towards her.

"You're gonna have to do better than that," he declared as Ladybug fell into a fighting stance beside him.

The wolf smiled, her lips curling up as her eyes flashed behind her mask. "I accept your challenge Cat Noir." She waved her hand and the scythe reverted back to the miniature pole that she attached to her hip. With that she leapt forward and started to attack Cat Noir. Ladybug maneuvered herself to the wolf's other side and threw in a series of punches and kicks as well. The wolf fended each of the two heroes off with attacks of blinding speed. Each punch that Ladybug started to throw was immediately met with a block before she was hit in the chest and stomach, causing her to double over, which resulted in a blow into the head that knocked her onto her back.

Seconds later Cat Noir landed at her side with a hard thud, having suffered the same fate but with a cruel high jump kick that landed in the center of his chest. He curled up onto his side, grimacing as he palmed the area of his body that had been harmed.

"I get the whole cats versus dog thing," he managed to wheeze. "But this is ridiculous."

"How is she moving so fast?" Ladybug questioned out loud. Glancing upwards, she watched as the wolf took another high jump, flipped once in the air, and fell towards the two of them with an outstretched foot. Ladybug looked over at Cat Noir, who was looking back at her and at the same time they placed their hands on the ground above their heads and rolled backwards, landing in a crouch as the wolf landed on the ground.

She growled once more, the street cracking beneath her feet.

Ladybug shook her head. This certainly wasn't going to be easy. She flipped her yo-yo in her hand, which she had managed to pick up when she rolled out of harm's way, and threw it into the air. "Lucky Charm!" She called.

Her yo-yo spun in the air and transformed into…a leaf blower? What was she supposed to do with a leaf blower? Confused, she studied the piece of equipment that landed in her hand as Cat Noir launched forward in another attack. Shifting her eyes around, Ladybug looked to see what was going to aid her in the defeat of this villain. It didn't take long before Cat Noir's staff, a nearby car, and the wolf's scythe all glowed in a red and black spotted pattern.

Ah ha.

She knew what to do.

"Cat Noir!" She declared, getting her partner's attention. "A little help?" She motioned to the leaf blower and he nodded in reply. She then turned her attention back to the wolf. "You look like you could use a little dog grooming!" She declared and turned the leaf blower on full blast as Cat Noir leapt out of the way. The wolf's eyes widened in surprise when she noticed Ladybug point the weapon her way. Cat Noir used the moment of her distraction to use his staff and knock her scythe out of her hands. He quickly leapt onto it and pulled it into his grasp. The blast of air knocked right into the wolf and sent her rocketing off her feet and hard into the car behind her where she slumped to the ground.

"Yes!" Ladybug declared. "Miraculous Ladybug!" She threw the leaf blower into the air and it transformed back into her yo-yo in a brilliant flash of light. She held out her fist as Cat Noir landed beside her, holding onto the scythe with pride. "Pound it," she and Cat Noir said in unison, bumping fists. "Now, let's get this akumu purified." She took the scythe from Cat Noir's hand and bent it over her knee, breaking it in half.

Then her eyes widened.

Nothing came out of the staff. There was no akumu within the scythe. This wasn't a villain from Hawk Moth. There was a sudden gust of wind and before Ladybug knew it, the two halves of the scythe had been ripped from her hands and the wolf disappeared from sight.

"What was that?" Cat Noir asked. "There was no Akumu."

"I…I don't know," Ladybug stammered.

She started to say something else but there was a low beeping sound from her earring. She was going to transform back to Marinette in a few minutes and she couldn't let Cat Noir see who she really was. Shaking her head, Marinette turned on her heel, leapt up onto the roof of a car and used it as a springboard to take herself up to a nearby rooftop before running out of Cat Noir's sight. She made it as far as she could before she had to stop and allow herself to transform, Tikki popping up in her hands. Her kwami rubbed her head as she rested in Marinette's palm.

"That was a close one," she said.

"I'm sorry, Tikki, we'll get you some food soon," she apologized. "I just…what was that if it wasn't an akumatized human?"

"It looks like it may have been another Miraculous," Tikki said slowly.

"I didn't think that was possible. I thought Cat Noir and I were the only ones…"

She shook her head. The possibility of there being another miraculous wasn't so bad…but there being another one that was trying to attack _them? Aren't we all supposed to work together to stop Hawk Moth?_ The thoughts swirled through Marinette's head as she walked back to her house and yet she couldn't come up with any answers. Nothing that would explain it, but it was the only explanation they had. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't notice her mother and father staring at her as she walked through the door to their house until she took a step forward.

"What?" She asked. Her eyes moved down to Tiki and she quickly shoved her out of sight behind her back. "What's going on?"

"Sweetie, we thought you were upstairs," Sabine Cheng said, exchanging a confused glance with her husband. "When did you leave?"

"Yeah, we didn't hear you," Tom added, bringing up the arm that was wrapped around his wife's shoulders to stroke his beard. "You're as quiet as a mouse."

"Oh, I just…I just wanted to get a quick look at the stars," Marinette explained. She inched towards the stairs with little steps to the side. "I mean, how many times have you dropped everything just to look at the stars. They're so pretty aren't they? Well, I have to finish up some of homework, I'll see you tomorrow. Bonne nuit!"

With that, she raced up the stairs to her room.

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Marinette chewed her bottom lip as she curled her fingers around the brown paper bag in her hands. Then she released one hand and used it to smooth down the side of her pink jean skirt before pressing down the collar of her white tank-top and adjusted the sleeves of her gray jean jacket. "It is a good idea, right? It's a great idea! Oh but what if I mess up? How can I mess up, I'll just be giving him this bag and say 'Here's some Adrien, breakfast'!" Marinette's eye twitched before she let out a long groan, slapping her hands over her face. "Oh, I'm so stupid! I'm going to mess this up!"

Alya watched her best friend with a stunned expression on her face before she reached out and grasped Marinette's shoulders and shook her as hard as she could. "Calm down, girl! Don't go blasting off already. You're going got be okay." Noticing Marinette's shoulders slumped; she reached out and tilted her chin up. "Taking Adrien breakfast is really nice. Especially since it's the fresh baked breakfast croissants your father just made. They're amazing!"

"I know," Marinette said with a sigh. "He's always so great at this." Then she panicked once more and brought the bag up to cover her face. "I hope Adrien likes it as much as everyone else does."

"He _will_ ," Alya reassured her.

Marinette nodded, taking a deep breath to try and steady herself. _I can do this,_ she said to herself. _I can do this. I'm just bringing him some breakfast. He'd appreciate that. Anyone would appreciate that. It's a nice gesture and he'll be happy you thought of him to bring it to him. You can do this, Marinette._ She felt herself relaxing once more and turned around to study the school grounds. Maybe Adrien had arrived and she didn't notice. But all she saw were her classmates as they and those in other grades milled around and chatted before the bell rang.

"Well," Alya said, putting her arm around Marinette's shoulders. Marinette wasn't sure if it was to hold her still so that she didn't go running off as her feet had wanted to do since she left for school that morning, or comfort her even further. "It looks like you'll be able to give it to him and not run the risk of being late."

"He's here!" Marinette cried as her eyes landed on Adrien's limo coming down the street towards the front of the school. "He's here! I can't believe it!" She took a deep breath and started to walk forward. She took another deep breath as she went. "Please like it, please like it, please like it," she whispered to herself as she went. Then the door to the limo opened and Adrien stepped out, dragging his satchel with him as he went. Marinette was so engrossed with staring at him that she didn't notice she had gotten too close to his personal space that she nearly walked right into him.

As he turned her way she suddenly came to her senses and let out a startled cry, leaping backwards. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't…I was just…it's good to see…" The paper bag in her hands crinkled and she looked down towards it, suddenly remembering what she was doing. With a sudden sense of gusto, she pushed it out towards him, nearly hitting him in the face so that he took a step back. "I brought you Adrien, breakfast!" She cried. Her eye popped open as her face flushed in embarrassment. "I mean, I brought…breakfast…I…"

With a sigh, Marinette lowered the bag and looked up at Adrien. She gasped lightly when she saw his green eyes looked so…haunted. When he was at school, amongst his friends he usually looked so upbeat, even if it didn't completely reach his eyes. But this time they were incredibly dark as if all the life had been taken from them. Her eyes studied his face, searching for something that would give her a hint as to what was going on, then her eyes landed on his fringe. There was something different about it, the skin underneath looked kind of...dark.

"Adrien," she started to say.

He seemed to have noticed where her line of sight trailed to and brought his hand to cover his forehead, masking it by arranging his fringe so it fell into his eyes a certain way. Then he reached out and took the bag from her hands, his fingers brushing against hers enough so that an electric shock shot through her body.

"Thanks." He smiled at her and walked into the school.

Marinette stared after him, her eyebrows furrowing together for a moment. Alya came up to her side and gently poked her in the shoulder. "He took it! I knew you could do it, Marinette," she said with a grin.

Marinette smiled back.

* * *

 **A/N:** Poor Marinette, she can't compose herself around Adrien. But it's fun to write. Did I keep that in character or did I go a bit overboard?

Thank you to all of the favorites and alerts so far. I didn't expect to get so many from the first chapter alone. I hope the second chapter was to your liking as well.

 **Cheers,**

 **-Riles**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 03**

* * *

Walking into the empty classroom, Adrien sighed in relief as he sat in his spot towards the front. Plopping down, he opened the brown bag and pulled out the still warm croissant Marinette had given him. He started to smile but forced himself to hold his lips together, mentally screaming at himself not to move. Then she sighed through his nose realizing how difficult it would be to eat without having to move his facial muscles. For a moment he hoped he would have the ability to be able to just shove the food through his throat or maybe a gaping hole in his face, much like the monster drawings he used to do when he was a little kid. The same drawings his father were barely look at before scoffing and turning away with better things to do.

Adrien tried not to wince every time he moved the muscles in his face. He never realized how many times someone made a facial expression until his forehead and nose became bruised. (He also didn't realize how hard it was to put on makeup until he had to cover up the bruise on his nose. That and he really did need to find something to thank Marie for not asking questions when he asked for her foundation). Now he tried his absolute hardest not to react to anything in any way. Not even when Nino showed him the awesome mix of music he had created over the weekend over the phone the night before. He grinned widely at his best friends' tunes…and couldn't move his face another inch for the next three hours.

Even the hint of making a smile made him want to dip his face into a vat of ice water. Going as far as to smile at Marinette for bringing him breakfast was hard. The two had become closer over the years they had been attending school together, to the point that he, Nino, Alya, and Marinette hung out together a lot, and he couldn't help but smile at her gesture. As soon as he raced into the school he winced and twinged at the shocks of pain that radiated from his face as if he had been hit all over again. Even a slight twist of his nose made him want to cry out in pain.

 _C'mon Adrien, you can do his,_ he thought, bringing it closer to his face. _You've dealt with this pain before. It's not a big deal._ He opened his mouth and had just bitten into it when he was suddenly enveloped by a flowery perfume as arms wrapped around his throat, choking off his air supply. Adrien started to cough as he felt something light press against his neck and cheek over and over again. Turning his head to the side, he leaned back slightly when Chloé Bourgeois tried to plant a kiss on his lips. Thankfully his cat-like reflexes allowed him to pull up his paper bag and move it between them before she could make contact.

Chloé huffed in annoyance, her breath tickling his ear, before she pulled back and fluttered her lashes with faux-sincerity. "Adrien, how are you doing today? I saw you come in, you didn't stop to say 'hi'." She then blinked down at the bag that she had just managed to kiss. "What's this? Did you bring in some breakfast today?"

"Good morning, Chloé," Adrien managed to get out before she released her arms form his neck. He took in a deep breath, grateful for air, and swallowed the bite of food. It was amazing. He hadn't had anything that good even when he had some of the top chefs making his favorite dishes. "I skipped a photo shoot I was doing today," he explained.

Chloé's blue eyes widened in objective horror. "Can you afford to do that? Your fashion career will stall before you know it." She took the other croissant in the bag and sat down across his lap, causing Adrien to hold his hands up in the air. He had no idea what to do now. He watched as she took a large bite of the pastry and continued to speak. "I mean, you're going to be world famous by the time we graduate. And I'll certainly be by your side as your personal fashion designer. I've already got a few ideas I think you'll be _dying_ to wear once I show you." She giggled and leaned close to him. "You can come by after school and see for yourself; my parents will be out so we'll have the place to ourselves…"

Adrien shook his head and started to respond, but the door to the classroom opened and the rest of their classmates came in. Adrien glanced down at Chloé on his lap then to the other students, his eyes locking with Marinette's as she came through the door. For a moment she paused as he looked at the two of them and then Adrien saw something in her eyes that he couldn't quite place. Disappointment? Sadness? Either way, guilt immediately filled his body and he shifted his legs, making Chloé get up. He twisted around in his seat, hoping to catch Marinette's eye once more. Alya, who was sitting next to her, noticed his stare and nudged Marinette in the side. The raven haired girl had been so busy searching for something gin her backpack that she jumped at Alya's sudden jab. She looked up again and her blue eyes locked on his green ones and he ignored the pain to smile at her.

"Thanks for the croissant," he said to her. "They're really great."

"Oh!" Marinette's cheeks flushed slightly and she nodded. "Thanks. I mean, you're welcome. I'm glad you like them."

Chloé, who stood next to Adrien, blinked rapidly at the pastry that hung out of her mouth. She turned towards Adrien then back to Marinette. "Marinette? These are Marinette's? She made these?"

"Y-yeah, in my father's bakery," Marinette explained. "You see, he took the original recipe and—"

Chloé spat the croissant onto the ground and glared at Marinette before turning on her heel and stomping over towards her seat, grabbing onto her best friend's arm as she went by. "Why didn't you tell me that he liked home baked goods?" She hissed as they went.

"Well, it looks like you've having a very eventful morning," Nino said as he moved into the seat directly next to Adrien. "As long as I've known her I don't think I've ever seen Chloé make anything herself, she even gets help to smile." He patted Adrien on the shoulder. "But we all know that you're her motivation." He snickered as Adrien rolled his eyes.

Just because he couldn't find a way to get Chloé to understand he didn't like her…she never took 'no' for an answer. That was just the way she was, it probably didn't help that her father and his father were close friends. As close as was possible with his father, anyway. Chloé had been part of his life basically since they were born and it was a comment their parents had made when they were young, that the two would get married and continue their family businesses that had caused Chloé's crush in the first place. Though Adrien honestly didn't think Chloé wanted to be Mayor even though she did like to get her way on more than one occasion.

"Very funny," Adrien muttered. He finished off his food and rested his arms on the table in front of him, letting out a low sigh. Nino frowned sympathetically, patting his friend on the back.

"Did your Dad blow up on you again?" He asked. "I could sort of hear some of it on the phone, it sounded pretty nasty. Why don't you come over to my place tonight? We'll think of a plan or something so that he doesn't get upset so much?"

Adrien shook his head. There was no point in it, too many people that knew was more dangerous to _them_ than to him. If his Dad knew that Nino knew what he was doing…it wasn't going to end well. Adrien closed his eyes, feeling the rain of beatings his father had punched along his face, chest, and legs when he had come home late from Nino's that time. He couldn't go to school for almost a week because of the bruising. Hiding it on his arms, legs, chest, and back was easy; he just needed long sleeves and to make sure he didn't move too quickly. He was already stiff in his posture as it was—his father made sure that he stood up straight at all times—but hiding it on his face was going to be more difficult. It couldn't be too far from the truth that Nino noticed the bruise along his forehead. Marinette seemed to have done so.

 _I need to be more careful,_ Adrien realized. Nino was already banned from the house, he couldn't have Marinette or Alya be banned either. But the way Marinette looked at him…the way her blue eyes shone with what? He growled slightly. It was frustrating not to know for sure. Did she know or was she just being a bit awkward as she always was around him. Though she had toned it down a bit over the years. _Dad's just going to get angrier. I really need to stay on his good side._

Adrien rolled his eyes.

 _Easier said than done._

Sitting up straight once more, he watched as their teacher walked into the room, calling for attention as he went. Mr. Baudin clapped his hands together and the students all calmed down quickly. "Good Morning, everyone. We're starting a new unit today and I wanted to give you all time in class to work on it. Because this is a Health and Social class and we have already gone over topics such as alcohol, drugs, mental illness, addiction, and teen pregnancies I'm opening up research to you. Working in pairs of two you will choose a topic that you will write a paper on and present to the class." He looked over at Chloé, who immediately threw her hand into the air and motioned for her to lower it. "I have already decided the pairs; in a week you will tell me the project idea and I'll approve the idea or steer you into another direction. Right now don't worry about the due date, we'll figure it out once everyone gets started. How does that sound?"

Mr. Baudin laughed lightly as the students all made noncommittal groaning sounds. Reaching over he picked up a clipboard and started to look down it. "Alright, so firstly we have Chloé and George…" he started to read off the list of names, pairing students together. Adrien half-listened until Nino's name was called. "Nino and Alya." Out of the corner of his eye, Adrien watched as his best friend sat up straight, trying to hide the massive smile coming across his face. If anyone should have been together, it was certainly his and Marinette's best friends. Every one could see it. "And last but not least we have Adrien and Marinette. I'll give you guys the rest of class to figure out what you're going to do." The rest of his words were drowned out by Chloé's audible screech of irritation.

Adrien twisted around in his seat and smiled at Marinette as gathered her things and traded places with Nino. She smiled sheepishly, pulling her hair behind her shoulders before lifting her hand and giving a tiny finger-wave to which Adrien responded in kind.

"I'm glad we're going to be working together," Adrien said first.

Her smile widened. "R-really?"

"Yeah, of course! Who better than to work on a project with your friend? That way I know we'll be working equally and we can have a good time while we do it." Adrien rested his hands in his lap and nodded over towards Chloé, who was glaring at them. "And because if I was paired up with Chloé she would have paid someone to do it and I actually like doing my work, so…" He trailed off as Marinette laughed, bringing his hand up to his mouth. "I know it's weird that I actually enjoying doing school work when most other teens would rather be doing anything else."

"No, not that," Marinette reassured him, waving her hands. "I meant that you're totally right that Chloé would pass it off as her own…kind of like she did with that competition to design you that new hat." She bit her lower lip, turning to face the front, gently tapping her pencil against the table.

 _Oh right._ He remembered that. Chloé had wanted to win so badly she had stolen Marinette's design and passed it off as her own. If it were him he would've been pissed if someone had taken his hard earned design and tried to claim credit for it. "You know, I was really impressed with the way you handled yourself that day. I know a lot of other people would have made some sort of a scene, like she did to you."

Marinette shrugged. "I have faith in my design talents; I couldn't let Chloé take that away from me."

"You don't need to be modest, your designs are _amazing."_ He started to run a hand through his hair, and then stopped when his fingertips brushed against his bruise, making him clench the muscles in his shoulder. "I only wish I was able to wear that derby. But you designed it with the feather in mind so I couldn't rip it off or anything."

"If I knew you were allergic to feathers I wouldn't have put it on," Marinette said. "I should have known." He blinked in confusion. Marinette, realizing what she had just said, immediately turned to him, waving her hands faster than before. "I didn't mean in a way like I was stalking you or something. I meant that, I mean, we've been classmates for a long time and even when we went on field trips to the zoo and stuff you were sneezing like crazy."

A smile tugged at his lips. "Oh right. It was in third grade and we went to the Vincennes and…I couldn't last in the bird sanctuary for more than a few minutes." He started to laugh remembering how completely covered in feathers he had been when he came out of the sanctuary and back into the light. His first round of sneezing had scared the sleeping birds so badly that they had woken up, squawked, and rapidly flew all over the place, releasing more feathers than ever before which started up on him sneezing again. "I'm sure there's a photo of it somewhere."

"There is," Marinette said readily. She shrugged as she explained, "Alya and I have all sorts of things from when we were young. Sometimes we go to each other's houses and reminisce about times when things were easier." A far off look appeared in her eyes, almost a tired one. She glanced down at the bag that rested on her hip, one she always had with her, and gently patted it. As Adrien watched, he was sure it moved a little bit.

All of a sudden he turned back to his bag and brought it up onto his lap, searching through it. Plagg had to still be in there or he was in trouble. It wouldn't be the first time his kwami would have snuck out of his bag to find something to eat after being bored in class. Thankfully he found the cat-like creature sleeping peacefully at the bottom of his bag. Or had been until he turned his head, opened his big green eye, and hissed up at Adrien.

"Sorry buddy," he whispered to Plagg before lowering his bag. He noticed Adrien watching and quickly pulled out a notebook. "I was just looking for my notebook so we could get started on the project," he explained.

"Right, the project," Marinette agreed.

"It's not that I don't like talking to you." Now Adrien found that he had to explain himself. "I really do, actually, it's the most fun I've had in a long time." If he didn't include his exploits as Cat Noir.

"Not even with your photo shoots?"

He shrugged. "My photo shoots are going okay. I guess. I don't know. I'm doing as many as I can, but I'm not doing as many as I used to. I guess I don't enjoy it as much. There are some other things I would rather do with my time." He made a face. "I want to work on my fencing and piano some more, but my Dad doesn't really like that unless I can get a picture out of it."

"That's really sad."

"You're telling me."

"No." Marinette reached out and gently grasped his elbow. He blew his hair out of his face, turning towards her. Her blue eyes trained on him, putting him in an oceanic trance. "I mean that he doesn't want you to do what you love. You're really good and all three of those things; he should let you explore all of them."

"Thanks." Adrien felt heat rise to his cheeks and he averted his gaze away from her, inconspicuously bringing his hand up to fan himself. Did it get hot all of a sudden? Why was it so hot? "You know…" he licked his lips. "I never told anyone that before. That I don't enjoy modeling as much as I used to. I'm glad I told you. You're easy to talk to."

"Thanks."

The two smiled at each other and were broken out of their thoughts at the sound of their classmates pushing back their seats and gathering their things together. Twisting around, Adrien noticed Nino waiting for him, waving a hand. He hadn't realized class had ended he was so preoccupied by his conversation with Marinette. Smiling sheepishly, he put his notebook back into his bag.

"We didn't come up with a topic," Marinette reminded him. She bit her lower lip, turning towards Mr. Baudin as he spoke to some other students. "Do you think he'll mind?"

"Nah." Adrien slung his bag over his head so that the strap rested across his body. "He said we have a week until we need to turn it in officially. We can get together another time and figure it out then." He lifted his hand and waved. "Bye Marinette."

She smiled and waved back. "Bye."

* * *

Adrien stretched his arms over his head as he climbed out of his limo. Almost every day for lunch hour he went back to the house to have some food and to relieve his bag of the books for his early classes. Even as he walked up the front steps he could see there was something different about the house that day, more of a lively hustle and bustle. Was a diplomat around? One of his father's friends? A photographer?

"Hello?" Pushing open the front door, Adrien cautiously stepped inside and looked around. He watched as the maids ran linens up and down the stairs while butlers brought an extra place setting to the dining room. "What's going on?"

"Ade!" Adrien looked up towards the top of the stairs and watched as a brunette girl raced down them, her long hair flying behind her. On the last step she jumped off and wrapped her arms around Adrien's neck in a tight hug reminiscent of Chloé. At first he had the instinct to push her away, and then she leaned back and blinked up at Adrien with her hazel eyes, frowning. "What's the matter, you don't recognize your favorite cousin?"

"Cass!" Adrien then hugged Cassie Price as tightly as he could before taking a step back. "What are you doing here? When did you come in?"

The half-French, half-American girl grinned as she placed her hands on her hips. "I'm here to visit you and Uncle Gabriel of course. Though you more than him." Adrien smiled. "And I just got back. Mom is here for some of her fancy executive work with a client in Lyon and she wanted to know if I'd come here." She threw her arms wide as if she jumped out of a birthday cake. "And here I am! I'll be going to school with you starting next week so you'll have to show me everything around here. It's been a really long time."

"It has," Adrien agreed. He hugged her again. "It's good to see you." He then frowned, noticing her lack of mentioning someone. "What about your Dad?"

Cassie's smile waned, just slightly. "That's not really interesting. He's still working, couldn't come with. But maybe next time." She looped her arm through his. "In the meantime, I'm starving after the train ride here. Let's eat."

Adrien chuckled as he allowed himself to get pulled into the dining room. He glanced towards the stairs, hoping his father wouldn't join them. His intense stare would make Adrien so uncomfortable he would clam up over lunch. Then Cassie would ask a lot of questions and things would be awkward and…

He was glad the stairs were empty.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 04**

* * *

Marinette hugged her books to her chest and gently twirled around her room. She was going to work on a project with Adrien. Work closely with him for the next few weeks. _And_ he was excited to be working with her. She knew they had gotten close over the past couple of years but she didn't think he would have been that happy to see her. And he had liked the food she brought him for breakfast, _and_ said it in front of Chloe and the rest of the class. She knew putting her hair up into a different style was going to work for her. She just _knew_ it.

With a sigh, she flopped back onto her bed and hugged her pillow to her chest. She couldn't have imagined anything to work out so perfectly. When did her life get to be so good? She closed her eyes and found herself continuing to let out little sighs of happiness as the seconds passed. Then she felt a tiny, ticklish nudging sensation against her cheek and she opened her eyes to find Tikki rolling back and forth on the pillow, as if trying to make herself comfortable. She opened her bright blue eyes and smiled up at Marinette.

"You're in a great mood today," She said to her friend.

"I'm in a great mood, Tikki," Marinette agreed. She reached out and scooped up the kwami in her hands before sitting up straight, resting her back against the headboard of her bed. "I've just been having a great day, today. Sort of a lucky day, really." She smiled peacefully, and gently nuzzled Tikki's cheek. "I feel like I have to thank you, Tikki."

"Me?" The black spotted kwami looked up at her in confusion. "What'd I do?"

"I don't know…I feel like since I've met you, you've brought nothing more than enough happiness to my life," Marinette said.

It was true; since she had taken on the mantle of Ladybug it was as if everything around her had changed. As Ladybug she managed to find herself more confident and feeling like she could do anything. That transpired into herself, Marinette, every now and then. Her confidence in different areas of her life increased; her drawings had come from half finished works to full body pieces of design she could see walking down runways and in stores. Her eye for detail helped her notice things that others didn't seem to notice, people watching was one of her favorite things to do, especially around the city of Paris. Sitting in a café or standing on a balcony she liked to watch the residents of the city continued to go along with their days, not knowing they were part of Marinette's as well.

Though that didn't mean there was anything she _didn't_ like about it. The responsibility of saving the city could put so much pressure on her that sometimes she couldn't sleep. What would happen if she didn't stop Hawk Moths' monster? What would happen to the rest of the city? Would someone actually die because of a mistake she made? Cat Noir couldn't purify akumas like she could; it was all up to her. Knowing that had a tendency to fill her with more fear than any of her worst nightmares. Destruction always came around when she was fighting someone who became akumatized, but she was always able to revert everything back. What if she wasn't able to do that and someone got hurt?

Then as her thoughts started to shift to the pessimistic things she usually tried to push away, her smile slowly started to wilt. Tikki, sensing her discomfort, flew up out of Marinette's hands and hovered by her cheek, laying a gentle kiss on her.

"Don't be sad, Marinette," Tikki cried. "You were just having a great day."

"I know. I just…I can't help it sometimes. I usually try not to think about it but…sometimes I wonder what would happen if I wasn't strong enough to beat Hawk Moth. Or if there was an akumatized monster that managed to take over the city. I don't know what I'd do."

"Don't worry; you had Cat Noir helping you. The two of you can do anything as long as you're working together." Tikki let out a low sigh and hovered in front of her face once more. "Speaking of which, we need to talk about that girl we fought yesterday."

Marinette's eyes widened. "Right. Are we sure she's another Miraculous."

"It's the only thing that makes sense," Tikki said earnestly. "As a matter of fact, I think it was the Wolf Miraculous. The White Wolf." Tikki frowned. "But I can't imagine why she would be trying to go after Cat Noir. They used to work together."

"Maybe it's the whole cats and dogs thing," Marinette said slowly. "We take on some of the attributes of the animals our Miraculous represents, right?" Tikki bobbed her head back and forth, but didn't respond right away. Marinette closed her eyes, thinking back to the fight. Normally the monsters went after her, mostly because Hawk Moth knew she had the ability to purify his monsters. This time, their opponent had gunned for Cat Noir in particular. Especially as the fight had been going on before she even arrived. "The question is where did she come from and why is she only attacking now?"

"More importantly," Tikki added. "What does she want with Cat Noir?"

"I guess we won't know until the next time we meet," Marinette pointed out. "Considering these guys don't ever stop after one try." She started to say something else, but was cut off by her cell phone ringing. Picking it up, Marinette glanced at the screen and let out a shriek when she spotted Adrien's name flashing. "It's Adrien! Oh my gosh!" She practically flung Tikki across the room as she grasped her phone with both hands, jumping up and down on her bed. "He's calling me! He's calling me! He's calling me! He's actually calling me!"

"Marinette," Tikki whined, rubbing the side of her head. She pouted before gliding over to her friend. She giggled when she saw how enthused she became at the sight of Adrien's name just coming up onto the screen of her phone. Tikki landed on Marinette's hair on top of her head and made herself comfortable. "So, why don't you answer? It may be something important."

"Oh, right." Marinette jumped off her bed and looked in the mirror, fluffing up her pigtails before taking in a deep breath. "Okay, I'm going to answer now." She took another breath and pressed the green button on her phone and raised it to her ear. "Hello? This is Marinette." She brought her hand up to her forehead and slapped herself. Of course it was her, she answered her own phone. Gosh, that was so stupid.

"Hey Marinette, its Adrien," came the voice on the other end of the phone. "I know this is really last minute but I was thinking maybe we could get some work done on our project? I have a topic that I think we could work with and it might be a good idea to get started."

"Oh!" Marinette's eyes widened. "You have an idea already?"

"I-I, I don't mean to put you out or anything. But, I was just thinking and I thought it might be a good idea…" he paused. "We can wait until we're back in school again or something if that's better for you."

"No, don't worry about it. It's fine. It's…it's a good thing that we thought of something already. That way we can get more of it done, more time to work on things so it's the best project in the class." Marinette smiled dreamily. "You're so smart, Adrien." She then squeezed her eyes shut, gritting her teeth. _Oh God, why can't you be cool around him for once._

Her worries melted away when she heard Adrien's low chuckle in his ear. "Thanks Marinette, but we'll see what you have to say after you hear about my idea." He paused and it sounded like he was talking to someone else. Marinette could her a gruff voice in the background of the phone call and she listened hard. "What, Dad? No, I'm just talking to a girl from class. She and I are working on a project together...she's coming over to work on it."

"I don't recall you asking for my permission." Marinette strained to hear the voice at the end of the phone call. "You know I don't like it when random people come over here that I'm not aware of." There was a brief pause, this time a tense one. "You know I don't like to be surprised."

"I'm sorry," Adrien quickly apologized.

"Come here please."

"Hold on a minute, Marinette."

Marinette pressed the phone against her ear as tightly as she could. It was useless. The phone had been put down against something and she couldn't hear a thing. No breathing, no other voices, nothing that would let her know there was anything going on. Marinette lowered herself to her bed and brought her hand up to run her fingers along her earrings. It was times like these she kind of wished she had Cat Noir's powers, anything to be able to hear more of what was going on. Finally, Adrien came back onto the phone and his voice was a little different than it had been before.

Subdued.

"Sorry, I just needed to talk to my Dad for a minute. I didn't really run by him that I was going to have someone coming by every now and then to work on the project." He sighed. "I'm not sure if you know, but my Dad can be really private sometimes."

"I think I can understand," Marinette said slowly. She understood alright. Adrien's house was like a fortress. The last time she had been there—not including when she was at his birthday party when the Bubbler had showed up—she had brought him a gift and there were security cameras and technological aspects about the house that would keep even the best criminal from being able to break in. To say Gabriel Agreste was a bit of a private man was an understatement. "Your father works really hard and he loves you a lot, he just wants to make sure that—"she paused when she heard Adrien snort. "I'm sorry?"

"Nothing. It's nothing. My Dad is a private man, I agree with you on that. So can you come over? I promise its okay."

"Yeah. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay, I'll see you then."

Marinette hung up and tilted her head back to look at Tikki, who slid down her fringe to lower her head. The kwami smiled before lifting up from Marinette's head and flew over to her coin purse, nestling herself inside. With a bright grin, Marinette leapt up from her bed and gazed at herself in the mirror.

She just needed a _little_ more makeup…

Twenty minutes later, after having taken off and put on her makeup about five times—as well as a quick wardrobe change—Marinette was ready to go over to Adrien's place. Calling a quick goodbye to her parents, she practically flew out of the house and to the Agreste mansion. Once she arrived she paused, slowing to a walk unsure of what to do. Should she just go up and ring the doorbell? Or would they be expecting her and bring her straight inside? Marinette's question was answered when she found Adrien sitting on the steps of the house, arms wrapped around his knees and his hoodie pulled up to cover his ears from the cool night. He sat up straight, waving to her when she arrived. "Marinette, hey!" He greeted her.

"Hey." Marinette waved back and hurried over TO him. "Thanks for inviting me over. You really didn't have to."

Holding up a hand, Adrien shook his head, blonde hair flopping over into his face. "Don't worry about it. We're partners on this thing and it should be an equal partnership, right? I don't expect you to do all the work." He smiled at her and tilted his head back towards the house. "Come on, my Dad won't bother us. Neither will Nathalie."

"Okay." Right. Nathalie. Marinette remembered her. Gabriel Agreste's assistant took her job so seriously she didn't seem to understand how standoffish and intimidating she could be. Marinette followed Adrien inside, blinking in surprise as her coat was whisked away before she could even register it. She snapped back to attention as a butler started to gently pull off her purse. "Oh! No, sorry, I need this with me." She couldn't be separated from Tikki. Not if something were to happen.

Adrien smiled, as if amused by her attachment to her purse and turned back towards the foyer as a brunette girl walked through the room, heading in the direction of the den. Not that Marinette knew the entire layout out of the house. That would be weird. But she remembered some of the rooms that she and Alya peeked into when they were looking for the birthday gift she had given him years before. But that was an entire story in itself.

"Oh, Marinette, this is my cousin Cassie," Adrien said quickly, grabbing her attention. "Cassie, this is my friend, Marinette."

Cassie beamed and held her hand out towards Marinette. "It's nice to meet you." Then her eyes lit up as she brought her free hand to the broach that sat around her neck. "Oh, _Marinette!"_ She cast her cousin an almost evil glance. "So _you're_ the one that my cousin keeps—"

"Okay, that's enough," Adrien broke in as Cassie chuckled quietly. "Cassie and I grew up together," he explained to Marinette. "Before she and her parents moved to New York we used to play together all the time. She's going to be going to school with us next week."

"Oh." Marinette smile at her. "I hope you enjoy Paris as much as we do. Or as much as you remember." Cassie smiled and nodded before walking away, bringing her hand up to cover her mouth as she continued to giggle. The bottom of her white sundress brushed against her legs as she did so.

Marinette then turned back to Adrien, ready to say something to him, but stopped when she spotted the bruise that sat around his eye. He was getting a black eye for sure, not entirely there yet, but getting there. He noticed her staring and lowered his head. "Oh, it's nothing," he said quickly, bringing his hand up to lightly touch the corner of the bruise. "I just ran into a door earlier when I was goofing around. It's no big deal." He waved a hand as if to ward off the topic of conversation. He then slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "So we've got the library to ourselves, we can work in there. It's just this way." He tilted his head in the direction and the two started towards the library.

Along the twisting and turning hallways they talked about school and some of the classes they didn't have together, stopped just about there when Nathalie stopped them. She looked up over her palm pilot, eyes shooting back and forth from Adrien to Marinette back to Adrien once more. Then her gaze narrowed just slightly. "I thought you were to have any visitors on a school night," she remarked. "Your father—"

"I spoke to my father and he said it was fine," Adrien said tightly. He tightened his hands into fists. Startled at the sudden tense atmosphere around them, Marinette lowered her gaze. Her eyebrows furrowed when she noticed Adrien's thumbs running along the silver ring that sat on his right hand. "I thought you weren't to bother us, Nathalie."

Nathalie sucked in a deep breath as she continued to stare at Adrien as if trying to figure out what to say in response. Without giving her the chance, Adrien reached out and grabbed Marinette's hand, his palm pressed against hers, and pulled her out of the hallway and towards the library. Marinette felt her heart soar.

"By the way, I didn't tell you earlier," Adrien said. He smiled at her. "I like your hair."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hmm, kinda wish I was writing this story where they were already together. Oh well, I have plenty ideas for other Miraculous stories so I can do it then. Thank you all for the reviews, alerts, and favorites, I'm so glad that you guys enjoy the story that much.

Also, if you want to get an idea of what Cassie looks like (though it does give a bit of a spoiler), go to the DeviantArt profile DarkElements10 and click on the picture entitled Wolfsbane and Cassie. And then the picture next to that (of a purple Miraculous) is my sister's OC Birdsong.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all.

 **Cheers,**

 **-Riles**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 05**

* * *

"So what's this school like that I'll be going to?" Cassie asked, smiling up at a maid as she took away her breakfast plate. "And what's so important about this project you're doing? You and Marinette were working really hard on it yesterday."

Adrien let out a low sigh, bringing his fingers to his aching temples and tried not to let the pain show on his face. He and Marinette _had_ worked hard, but not really on the project. They ended up talking and laughing over some things he never thought he would talk to anyone about. Then again, he didn't really find many people that he could tell that he had played the guitar when he was a kid before switching to the piano and that he used to entertain himself for hours helping the maids clean. But that was something about Marinette he couldn't figure out. She was always so easy to talk to…when she wasn't babbling in his face. But as long as he could remember, Marinette always did have a bit of a social anxiety.

Unfortunately they had been talking so long that his father had to have been the one to come down and tell them it was time for Marinette to leave. The way he had come into the room with his quiet footsteps, clearing his throat to get their attention had caused him and Marinette to jump as if just scalded by hot water. Adrien whipped around in his seat and grasped onto the headrest so hard his fingertips immediately blanched.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Gabriel said in his low, rumbling tone. "But I believe it is time for you to leave. Adrien has a big day tomorrow and I can't have him tired for it."

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Marinette leapt to her feet and started to grab her notebooks and textbooks, shoving them into her bag haphazardly. Adrien didn't dare watch her; he kept his eyes on his father, knowing there would be worse consequences if he allowed himself to look away. "I didn't realize it had gotten so late. We were just talking and…" Marinette trailed off as she clasped her hands together. "I'm sorry; I'll just be leaving now. I'll see you tomorrow, Adrien."

"Bye Marinette." Adrien barely managed to get the words out higher than a whisper. He blinked, looking at his father as he stared back at him. The man continued to hold his hands behind his back, listening as Marinette was lead out of the house. He didn't move until he heard the front door to the house slam, resounding throughout the house. "Father—"

"Please don't speak unless you're spoken to, Adrien, I have told you that many times before." Gabriel took a deep breath, his chest swelling beneath his breasted coat and started to pace back and forth. Adrien slowly lowered his hands from the back of his chair and lowered his head, waiting for the bomb to go off. Even from where he sat, he could smell the alcohol on his father's breath. He had to have been working very hard on a project that either was taking too long or he wasn't having much progress.

Gabriel Agreste always seemed to come after Adrien when it was his own failures that were getting in the way. Adrien took a deep breath and started to say something but was cut off by a blow to the head that knocked him out of his chair and onto the floor. He curled up into a ball when Gabriel brought his foot back and struck Adrien in the chest then in the stomach. Adrien jerked with each blow, cries of pain escaping him before he could stop himself. That angered Gabriel more than anything; a movement or a sound that could be misconstrued as Adrien's talking back to him or being defiant.

Adrien held his breath, waiting for the third strike, and bit down on his lower lip as it came into his ribs. It wasn't hard enough to crack it, but enough so that it would bruise. Thankfully with his abilities of Cat Noir he was stronger than most people would be, still, it hurt. Rolling onto his back, Adrien struggled to breathe as he waited for the blinding pain to stop. Gabriel kneeled down by his son and grasped his hair, lifting his head.

"Please stop testing my patience, son," Gabriel said to him. "You know I don't like it when there are guest over that I have not approved." He took a deep breath and glanced at the door as if waiting for someone to come in. "Now that your cousin is here I hope you will make sure she is aware of the rules." He then let go of Adrien's hair and stood up. "I don't want to have this conversation again."

Then Adrien had gotten Sandrine, the maid he was the closest to ever since he was a little boy, to patch him up. She shook her head and clicked her tongue as she lifted his shirt and spotted the bruising that was making its way onto his skin. Still she let out a sigh, got a few ice packs to bind to his chest, and sent him on his way. She gave him a meaningful look but didn't say anything else. Adrien gently grasped her arm in a silent 'thank you' before he shuffled to his room to get very few sleep. Sandrine was the only one that knew what was going on between him and Gabriel and she knew not to say anything either.

 _Don't say anything stupid, Adrien, and Cass won't have to know,_ Adrien thought as he leaned back from his own plate, it being taken away. _Dad already warned you about that, you don't want her to get hurt, either._ "My school is pretty good, I don't have many complaints about it," he said. "And we got assigned the project yesterday. We have a while to work on it but Dad always says to optimize all the time you have so…" he trailed off with a shrug and tried not to wince. Too many movements made his head explode with as much pain as his body did. His chest and stomach hurt as well. "What about you? How was school in the United States?"

"It's different," Cassie agreed, tucking her hair behind her shoulders. Adrien's eyes moved to the broach that sat around her neck, glinting in the light. "The culture is really different; they're a lot more open about their opinions. Not that it's a bad thing, it's pretty cool. And then food is great though the portions are really big." She took a breath, green eyes shifting around the room. "I didn't realize how much I missed being here until I came back."

"Yeah."

Adrien remembered all of the weekends Cassie and his aunt and uncle would come down from Lyon to spend the weekend with his family, or his family would go up there. As far as he could remember she had always been really girls, shrieking at any bug that came her way and didn't particularly like splashing around in the mud—he definitely remembered a time that he had been a bit of a brat and threw a handful of mud at her after a rain storm and she went screeching inside to tell on him—but she trained in fencing alongside him, something the two of them really bonded over.

"How come Uncle Danny didn't come with you and Aunt Melinda?" Adrien changed the subject. His eyes narrowed slightly when he saw a strange expression slide over Cassie's face. It wasn't exactly anger, but it was certainly one of distaste.

"He couldn't afford the time away from his job," Cassie explained. She shrugged. "He works for the government and he's constantly doing something. Even when he has a day off his phone doesn't stop ringing and he has to go back into work."

"I thought you lived in New York."

"I do, but he has a government job based out there. It takes up a lot of his time." Cassie sat up straight. "So, is there any place to fence around here? I don't know about you, but I'm still practicing. I think I can still beat you."

"You're on," Adrien replied, matching her challenging tone with one of his. "I've still been practicing as well. But yes, there's a fencing club at school. I'll take you around when the day is over." He raised his eyebrows when Cassie suddenly slapped her hand to her thigh, where the pocket of her dress was situated and her eyes widened. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, just an itch. I have to get my school books and then we can get going, okay?"

Adrien watched as she practically leapt to her feet and raced out of the room, hand still placed against the side of her leg. Letting out a low chuckle, Adrien rested his arms on the table and let out a sigh, leaning forward and resting his chin on his arms. There had to be something he could do to keep Gabriel away so that his secret wouldn't be exposed. Or a way to stay out of the house long enough so that it didn't become a problem.

"Adrien. Adrien!" Adrien reached into the pocket of his sweatshirt and gently grasped Plagg in his hand, pulling him out. His black cat kwami poked his head around Adrien's fist and looked in dismay at the table. "No food? Come on, Adrien, what do you take me for? You know I need to keep my strength up."

"Sorry, Plagg. I didn't have any Camembert with breakfast today. But I'll be sure to bring some extra snacks to school for you today." Adrien watched as Plagg let out an overdramatized sigh, his ears drooping and allowing his upper half to flop forward over his hand, before tucking him back into the pocket of his hoodie. He then picked up his school bag and gym bag that sat on the floor by his seat and slung them over his shoulders. "Thank you for breakfast," he called to the maids and butlers that hustled and bustled in the kitchen. "I'll see you all later."

He walked out of the dining room and into the foyer of the house and watched as Cassie rooted through her white cross body bag. Upon closer inspection it appeared that she was whispering to it; every few seconds she would pause and shake her head as if disagreeing with someone, and speak again.

"Uh, Cass what are you doing?" He walked towards her. Cassie jumped and let out a startled shriek, turning towards him with wide eyes.

"I'm not doing anything!" Cassie dropped her bag to her side. "I, was, uh, just checking to see if there was any gum or anything in here. Kinda need to freshen my breath, it can be just as bad as BO. Plus, I was looking for my camera." She reached deep into her bag and pulled out a small digital camera and waved it around before holding it up to her face, twisting it back and forth. "Do you still model? Maybe you could pose for me."

Reaching out, Adrien placed his hand on the front of her camera and lowered it "No thank you. I already get enough of it from my near daily photo shoots." He laughed when Cassie pouted; putting on the same expression he remembered her using when she tried to get attention from those around her, especially when she was framing him for something she did. "But it's good to know that fashion really does run in the family."

A dry, almost sarcastic tone came to his voice as he said it. He looked over as Cassie suddenly reached out and grabbed onto his hand, examining the silver ring encompassed around his fingers. He held his breath, trying hard not to let emotion move over his face. Did she know that it was a Miraculous used to hold onto Plagg's powers? Probably not. Many people that saw it admired him for his taste in jewelry, which wasn't too far-fetched. While his father was in the fashion industry his mother had been really into jewelry, creating her own line that was sold alongside Gabriel's clothing. He just said it was something left over from her collection before it went out of commission. In many ways it made him feel close to his mother even though it had nothing to do with her and everything to do with his alter-ego Cat Noir.

"I didn't think you were much into jewelry," she commented.

"I don't remember you having that broach either," Adrien shot back. It did seem really important to her, he having noticed that since she arrived she had done nothing but constantly run her fingers over it as if making sure it was still there. Not that it wasn't a nice piece of jewelry, the yellow color of the gem set off her eyes in the same way his was always complimented. (Not that he paid too much attention to appearances, but that the organizers of his photo shoots consistently told him that his eyes and his smile were his best feature. A lot of people went on and on about them when he was young, it made sense others made special mention of it as well. Though it certainly did make him feel like he was constantly being watched. He hated to look at himself in the mirror, especially with his constant bruises).

"Oh yeah, I got it a few years ago." She beamed as she fell into step with him and the two head out the front door to the limo that waited for him. "It's been passed down through my family, apparently it's really old. Grandma, on Dad's side, gave it to me."

Adrien nodded to her then nodded to his driver as the door was opened for them. He plopped down onto the backseat and slid all the way over so that Cassie had space to sit as well. Taking his phone from his pocket he plugged in his headphones and started to play some music. Closing his eyes Adrien tilted his head back against the headrest. His head throbbed and he wanted nothing more than to go back to bed and sleep.

 _Father would probably storm in and make sure I don't even do that,_ Adrien thought, a scowl slowly sliding onto his face as he did so. _He'd make me works with the butlers and maids just so that I'm not 'wasting my potential' and 'become lazy'. Why can't he be my father again?_

He wasn't sure when his father had started to abuse him. One day it just started to happen. Soon he wasn't able to go to his fathers' room to ask for homework help without being screamed at or receiving a slap to the side of the head. One time had been especially bad where he was asking for some help on math homework and the next thing he knew he had woken up in his bed with an ice pack on his head and his father standing by the side of his bed apologizing and telling Adrien to never do that again. He couldn't even remember what he had done to make him so angry. But ever since then math had become his least favorite subject.

"Ade, we're here." Cassie elbowed Adrien hard in the side and he groaned, feeling pain shock through his body. But she didn't seem to notice as she pulled a mirror out of her bag and checked her expression, making sure her hair was in its place and her ear piercings—three in each ear (Which his father would certainly not approve of)—was perfectly in place. He had never seen anyone so excited for school before. "Oh, it looks so cool! And look at the architecture and all of the fashion. I could get some good shots here. Hey, is there a volleyball team or anything? Track maybe? Because I like to do those along with fencing, too. I mean, I have to be well-rounded right?"

 _Oh yeah, I forgot she got really talkative when she's excited. I didn't think I'd ever meet anyone so excited for school._

"Is that Marinette? Looks like she's waiting for something. Maybe she's waiting for you. You sure do talk about her an awful lot, Ade." Cassie waited for the limo door to open and she slid out, casting an evil look to her cousin as she did so. "She sounds really nice. I think I'm going to get to know her a little."

Adrien's eyes narrowed as a low growl, sounding almost like a cat's purr, came from his mouth. He knew what that look meant, if there was anything the two of them managed to have in common from their childhood is that they were very mischievous when they wanted to be. Knowing Cassie, she was about to embarrass him as much as possible, despite having been able to shut her down the night before.

"Cass."

"C'mon cuz, introduce me to all of your friends!" Cassie grabbed onto Adrien's arm, looping hers through his and practically marched her way over to Marinette who stood with Alya and Nino. "Hi, I'm Cassie." She stuck out her hand for everyone to shake it. "I'm new here."

"She's my cousin," Adrien added when a curious glance from Nino turned her way. "She lives in New York but came here with my Aunt and is going to be going to school with us for a while." Glancing over at Cassie he couldn't help but smile a little. Now that he was at school and away from his father's constant gaze he could relax a little. Being with his friends always managed to do that. "This is my best friend Nino and his girlfriend Alya. And you already know Marinette."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Cassie said, shaking their hands.

"It's nice to meet you too," Alya said, her eyes shining behind her glasses. Nino lifted his hand in a wave as he greeted her enthusiastically, "Yo!". Then Alya's eyes became mischievous as she glanced at Marinette, who fidgeted at her side, smiling shyly. "I didn't know you already knew Marinette."

"Oh, I didn't." Cassie waved her hand. "But she came over to our place yesterday to work on a project with Adrien and I met her then." She then turned to the raven haired girl, who darted her gaze away from Adrien, flushing slightly. Adrien smiled to himself, noticing her shifting eyes. "They seemed to be really eager to start working on their project."

"I'm sure they were eager about something," Nino said with an ear splitting grin, causing Adrien to glare at him. He chuckled to himself, covering his mouth with his hand before turning back to Cassie. "So you're from New York huh? What's it like?"

"Fashion capital of the US what's not to like?" Cassie laughed good-naturedly. She then shrugged modestly. "But if you're not into that sort of thing there's a lot of stuff you can do there. Rockefeller Center, Times Square, art shows…but if you're in the suburbs there's plenty to do out there as well. It's not all glamorous, but that can be fun, too. I really missed it here in France, though; I grew up in Lyon but moved because of my Mom's job. She's an executive at a company."

"You should take a look at some of Marinette's drawings," Alya said, placing a hand on her best friend's shoulder and gently causing her to take a step forward. "They're amazing! Her designs really need to be manufactured or _something_!"

"I'd love to take a look if you ever have the time," Cassie said to her.

Marinette blinked for a few seconds then she grinned, nodding. "That would be fun. Thank you." She turned towards Adrien and he then noticed that she was grasping a paper bag in her hands. "I wasn't sure if you had another photo shoot before school or anything, but I brought you some more food." Adrien took the bag and looked inside it. He pulled his face back when a cloud of steam came up and settled on his face in droplets. "It's another new recipe; I thought you would like it."

Taking a long sniff through his nose, Adrien was hit with a sweet scent that made his stomach growl. He realized he hadn't eaten that much during breakfast, too busy trying to figure out how to breathe and swallow without his chest and stomach burning with pain. "This looks great Marinette." He lifted his gaze and looked her in the eye. "Thank you, it means a lot."

Marinette smiled a dreamy smile. "No problem."

Adrien continued to look at her, lost in her blue eyes. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed them before. They were so comforting, relaxing. For a moment he forgot about his pain and suffering and focused on the sweet smile she sent his way.

"Geez, get a room," Nino muttered loud enough for Adrien and Marinette to break out of their trance and looked away from each other with sheepish smiles.

Then Adrien felt his arms get plastered to his sides in a tight grip. He groaned and looked to the side to find Chloe held a tight grip on him. She rested her head on his shoulder before smiling up at him, fluttering her eyelashes. "Adrien, come on, I have to ask you something."

"I can't," he struggled to say. "I have to show my cousin around the school." He motioned to Cassie, who stared at the two with wide eyes.

"Oh, I'm sure your little friends can show her around," Chloe insisted. She grasped Adrien's arm and pulled him away from his friends and into the school. He struggled to keep up with her quick pace, practically being dragged along as they went. "So, Adrien, what are you doing this weekend?"

"I'm not sure, Chloe," Adrien said, struggling to pull his arm out of her grasp. But she had a viselike grip on him. "I don't ever really know my schedule that far ahead."

"Yes, well, my father's citywide Gala is this weekend," Chloe said. "I'm sure you've heard of it. It's going to be the event of the year with anyone who is anyone in attendance. The proceeds go to charity which I'm sure you've heard of."

"I think so…" Yeah, Adrien remembered his father saying something about being in attendance. He didn't pay too much attention. There wasn't a lot of time his father spoke to him that didn't have to do with what he did wrong or how much of a waste of space he was. It wouldn't surprise him if his father was going to attend, anything for the publicity. That meant he was expected to go as well.

"Well, I was thinking we could go together," Chloe said in a low, seductive drawl. She threw her arm around Adrien's shoulders and pulled him close. "You see, I'm going to throw a party afterwards, a close intimate party with a few of my close friends. And I want you to go with me; to the Gala and to my party."

"Oh, well, I don't know, Chloe, I might—"

Chloe leaned in and pressed her lips to the underside of Adrien's neck. Part of him shivered with disgust as she invaded his space for the umpteenth time, but he was a guy as well and he could feel part of himself getting turned on by it. He couldn't help it; she managed to find the most sensitive spot of his skin.

"Come on, I'll make it worth your while. Tell you what, you don't have to answer me now, just give me a call." Chloe winked at him before sashaying down the hallway, throwing a wink and a flirty finger wave over her shoulder as she went. Adrien watched her go, letting out a heavy sigh.

Chloe had managed to tone it down a bit from the way she had been their first few years of high school but she still became possessive over him. And he had to admit that she was pretty but her attitude and her sense of entitlement turned him off just as well. She just wasn't…

 _She's just not Ladybug,_ Adrien said. He smiled to himself as he thought of his partner in crime. He wanted nothing more than to know who it was underneath the potted mask that framed her blue eyes. But he respected her privacy to not know her real identity, though he was willing to give up his own identity in exchange for hers. He just had to wait.

The bell rang and Adrien knew he had another five minutes or so to get to his locker and get to class. He started to head towards the locker bay when he heard a low voice calling his name. Recognizing Plagg's voice he started to open his bag, but didn't move fast enough for the black cat kwami to come barreling through the fabric of the bag and zoomed in front of Adrien's face.

"Plagg! You can't be here!" Adrien looked around to be sure no one was watching before he grabbed Plagg in his hand and darted into the boy's bathroom. He checked to be sure the room was empty before turning back to his kwami. "I thought I told you to lay low in school. If you're hungry you know I have some food in my—"

"It's not that!" Plagg interrupted. "I can sense something. Another Miraculous! There's one nearby! Maybe it's that one from a few nights ago?" He then grinned evilly, showing his teeth. "I saw we go after it."

"But I have class—"

"—skipping class every once in a while is no big deal, Adrien. You know you've always wanted to do it," Plagg pointed out. He started to slowly float around his ward's head, Adrien following him the best he could. "You're always being told what to do; your father is demanding, your teachers are always telling you where to go, when to go, to do some homework that you'll never need anyway, why don't you cut loose and take care of this? Be late to class for once. Skip it if you have to. You'll never get another chance. Besides, it's part of your responsibility of being Cat Noir."

Adrien thought for a moment, pressing his lips together. He glanced out the window of the bathroom, eyes narrowing when he spotted a white figure kneeling atop a nearby roof. "You're right, Plagg, looks like we don't have a choice." He held out his fist. "Plagg, claws out!"

He transformed and launched himself out the window, scaling the side of the building until he landed on the rooftop, staring down the white wolf figure. "Cat Noir," She called. "It's good to see you again. It's too bad it'll be the last time." She placed a hand to her chest. "You can call me Wolfsbane, by the way."

"I'd say it's great to meet you," Cat Noir said slowly. "But I don't like dogs."

"That's great for me, I hate cats," Wolfsbane replied. She spun her chain sickle around her hand. Cat Noir took out his staff and spun it around his hand. "I'm sure you're a great person, but I have a bone to pick with you."

"Purr-fect!"

With that, Cat Noir leapt towards Wolfsbane.

* * *

 **A/N:** So I plan on having this story to go back and forth from Adrien's to Marinette's POVs. But would you guys want a chapter from Cassie's POV as well? Also, what do you think of Cassie? Do you like her or do you need a bit more of her to figure it out?

Thanks for the reviews and favorites so far.

 **Cheers,**

 **-Riles**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 06**

 **A/N:** Thanks for the reviews and answering my last question, guys.

 _Guest:_ Thank you for the honest review. In thinking of the plot of this story I realized it was better for her to be Adrien's cousin to see how far I could tear him down before bringing him back up again. But I do understand your sentiments. Thank you for letting me know your opinion.

* * *

Marinette curled her fingers into her palms, trying to keep her attention on her teacher. But it was hard. She couldn't just sit there and let Cat Noir take down that….whatever or whoever it was without her help. But at the same time, she couldn't be out of the classroom that long without someone taking notice of it. If she hadn't had seen Cat Noir fly by the window like that, with the white clad figure flying after him... Marinette sighed. When she was younger, fourteen years old, and just started out as Ladybug people started to question it all the time. She had started to miss half days of school and so many lessons that she would fall asleep once she got home and become further and further behind on her homework. It was so bad her parents threatened to get her a tutor, but she buckled down and managed to turn it around.

Not to mention Alya's constant crusade to figure out the identity behind Ladybug, what Marinette was keeping form her, and why she was constantly racing off with little to no explanation as to why. It was hard to get her off that tangent whenever it was brought up, especially whenever Ladybug made an appearance near the school. Was it her fault Hawk Moth made it a habit to attack teenagers or those that were younger—probably with minds that were easier to mold. It made her think that Hawk Moth really knew who she and Cat Noir were and was trying to flush them out.

But that was silly. No one knew who she was. She hadn't even told Alya, no matter how much she wanted to. Maybe she should've thought about doing it now. Feeling something move against her leg, Marinette glanced down under her desk and found Tikki gently rubbing her leg, as if soothing her. The red and black kwami seemed to have noticed Marinette's plight of whether or not she was going to leave class. Leaving class was harder now, especially because she had been told in no uncertain terms that her absences and tardiness was going to be watched.

Adrien seemed to have the same issues with his own father from what Marinette overheard him saying to Nino. Gabriel Agreste was a stickler for Adrien's worth ethic and education to the point that he was a bit…strict?

That's the word she would use.

She didn't know Gabriel personally, only having run into him a few times, but there was something about him she didn't like. She didn't like how cold he was, how calculated, and she especially didn't like the way he made her feel when she was working with Adrien on their project. Like a little bug, or a nuisance that did nothing but get in the way of everything. Honestly, she felt sorry for Adrien.

Now if only he would show up to class, so she could express her concern to him. But as usual, he seemed to be expressing his rebellion against his father by missing class. Nino would cover for him like he always did. Marinette sighed heavily and rested her chin in her hand, trying to pay attention to the lesson being taught that day, ignoring the thumps and bangs that scattered across the ceiling. No one paid much attention to it; it easily being attributed to the faulty air conditioning unit in their room.

Beside Marinette, Alya sighed heavily appearing as bored with the class as she was. Not that they didn't enjoy school, but studying for the BAC was the last thing they wanted to focus on. It was just so stressful that the one test determined what they would be doing after they graduated. And with Marinette's track record...Alya noticed Marinette's gaze and slowly reached into her notebook, pulling out a sheet of paper. She scribbled on it then slid it over to Marinette as carefully and quietly as she could.

 _Alya: So you never told me what happened with you and Adrien last night. As soon as you got back you feel asleep, I presume?_

Marinette felt her cheeks starting to flush. She certainly had fallen asleep. But that was after staying up so late wondering what it was about Gabriel that made her feel so uncomfortable. And there was that other thing. She had forgotten a notebook in the room and had gone back to get it, stopping when she heard something…strange, within the room she had left. She wasn't absolutely sure, but it sounded like there was a struggle between Adrien and Gabriel. But she couldn't say that when she wasn't sure…

Picking up her pencil, Marinette glanced at the teacher to be sure they wouldn't be caught, then wrote back her response.

 _I was tired. We were working really hard! And, there's not much to tell. We were just talking about our project…well; we talked about a lot of other things too. I felt like he was really opening up to me. It was like we were talking as friends rather than classmates who have been in school together since as long as I can remember._

 _Alya: That's great, Marinette! Now for us to push this partnership forward a little bit. :)_

Marinette's eyes widened as she read Alya's response. What was that supposed to mean? She wasn't going to do something stupid like try to set them up was she? She and Adrien were only just spending more time alone together, more than they had within the last couple of years. Since Alya and Nino started dating the four of them hung out together, especially in the beginning of their best friends' relationships. But now…

Marinette could feel herself starting to become flustered and Adrien wasn't even in the room. Still…the thought of them hanging out alone, maybe, finally going on a date—even if Alya set it all up—made butterflies erupt in her stomach. No a volcano of excitement and anxiety erupt in her stomach. It was what she really wanted, she knew it was bound to happen once Adrien got to know the real her.

 _Don't do anything stupid, Alya!_

 _Alya: Who said anything about doing something stupid? I just think we should push things along a little bit further. You two were working together on your project all night and I'm sure the rest of the class hasn't even started. Well, other than Sabrina kissing Chloé's ass and doing it for her._

Marinette giggled quietly to herself. She felt bad for Sabrina; she didn't realize that Chloé wasn't really her friend and was just using her and her power over the redhead. Marinette tried to get her to see that once before, when she was partnered with them to work on a school project. And Sabrina ended up lumping onto Marinette. It hadn't worked out the way she wanted it to but at least she understood the dynamic between the two 'friends'.

 _We just want to make sure our project goes well._

 _Alya: Yeah, and put the rest of us to shame! ;) What's your guys' topic?_

Marinette hesitated before writing back. It had surprised her when Adrien brought it up, but at the same time it was a topic not many people spoke about. And from the things she managed to see while as Ladybug, swinging through the city, she knew it was happening. Finally, Marinette wrote back. _Abuse. Different kinds. Abusing drugs, abusing people, addictions too. It wasn't my idea for a topic, Adrien thought of it._

 _Alya: Kind of a heavy topic for a project don't you think?_

 _Yeah, but it seems like something that would get a good grade, there's a lot to research. He had to convince me on it, too. But if he thinks it's a good idea._

 _Alya: And if he thought jumping off a cliff was a good idea, would you do it, too?_

Marinette giggled quietly and stuck out her tongue towards her best friend. She wasn't that easily manipulated when it came to Adrien. Okay, not really. There were still a few things she did for or because of Adrien she didn't want to ever be reminded of.

Marinette's attention was drawn back to the front of the classroom as the door opened and an exhausted Adrien walked inside, dragging his bag on the floor behind him as he went. He wiped sweat off his forehead and trudged to his seat not seeming to notice the stares as he went. As soon as he dropped down into his seat, Chloé raced over and dropped into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Oh, Adrien, are you okay?" She asked loudly.

"He's fine, get off him," Marinette mumbled. She didn't seem to say it low enough for Alya, Chloé, Nino, and Adrien all turned her way with curious expressions on their faces. Marinette sat back, eyes widening as she tried to figure out what to say. "I mean, uh, you don't look so good. Maybe you should go to the nurse."

"I'm okay," Adrien replied, giving her a small smile. Chloé noticed and glared at Marinette before doing as the teacher said and untangled herself from Adrien's grasp. She stomped over to her desk and sat down, crossing her arms and legs. "I just felt a little under the weather when I got here. I'm fine now." He gave a weak smile, though he continued to sweat.

"If you're sure, Adrien," Miss. Bustier replied, though her green eyes still showed concern for her student. She then did a quick head count around the room, tilting her head to the side. "I'm sorry, Adrien, didn't you have a visitor in class today?"

"Here I am," Cassie announced as she walked into the room at a leisurely pace. Once she noticed all eyes on her, she lowered her head, visibly shrinking in front of everyone. "I, um, I'm sorry I got lost on the way here. It's, um, a really big school."

"That's alright," Miss. Bustier said. She gave a warm welcoming smile and held out her arm, motioning for Cassie to come to her side. The teen girl, who seemed to have a lot of confidence when meeting Adrien's friends, was suddenly a shrinking violet. "Why don't you come to the front and tell us something about yourself."

"Um. Okay." Cassie's face turned red, making her green eyes stand out even further, and she shuffled her feet. " _B-Bonjour. Je m'appelle Cassie Price_. I-I just moved here from New York…that's in the United States. My mom is French, my Dad is American. Uh, my Mom is a company executive. My Dad…he's a retired vet. I used to live in Lyon but we moved…to New York. And, uh, I'm excited to be back here and…going to school with you all." She started to move to an empty seat then stopped. " _Du rien_. Oh, I mean, _Merci_."

With that, she ducked her head and walked up the steps to her seat, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. Marinette turned in her set and watched as Cassie sat down, placing her still red face in her hands.

"Looks like someone has stage fright," Alya whispered to Marinette.

"Or a fear of public speaking," Marinette replied. "I feel bad. It's not easy to get up there and speak in front of a lot of people."

"Well, it's great to have you in our class, Cassie. We hope you'll enjoy your stay with us," Miss. Bustier said. She nodded over towards Adrien. "For those of you that don't know, Cassie is Adrien's cousin. She'll be with us for the rest of the school year." She clasped her hands together. "Now, back to the topic at hand…"

Marinette rested her chin in her hands as she tried to pay attention to what Miss. Bustier was saying. But she found herself staring at the back of Adrien's head as he sat hunched over in front of her. Normally he would be paying attention and taking as many dutiful notes as he could, but this time he lay on his side, rubbing his neck and shoulders.

Marinette's breath caught in her throat as she thought about what she had heard the day before. Well, she wasn't _exactly_ sure what she had heard, but it didn't sound good. Finally, the bell rang; signaling the end of class and everyone gathered their books and things together.

"Are you sure you're okay, man?" Nino asked as he and Adrien gathered their things together. Marinette tried not to eavesdrop but she couldn't help it. "You look like you're really run down."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Adrien carefully pulled his bag over his head, wincing as he did so. "I just…"

"Man, you need to stay at my house tonight," Nino insisted. He reached out a hand and placed it on Adrien's shoulder. He must've done it too hard for Adrien let out a yelp and jumped backwards. His bag slid down his arm and dropped to the floor with a loud thud, attracting attention to him.

Marinette gasped as a bad word came flying out of Adrien's mouth. She had never heard him or anyone else say it before other than the time her father had been in such a rush while baking he accidentally grabbed a burning hot pan without a glove. As soon as the word came from his mouth, Adrien clamped his mouth shut and stared at Nino.

"Sorry, dude," Nino said slowly. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You didn't," Adrien said quickly. "I just—"

"Adrien, are you alright?" Alya moved up to Nino's side, gently hooking her hand through his elbow. Marinette stepped down to the row in front of her, by Adrien, and looked up at him. He glanced down at her and their eyes locked for a long moment. Then his cheeks flushed and he lowered his head.

"It's nothing," he finally managed to say. "You just surprised me."

"Are you sure?" Alya insisted.

"Yeah," Adrien said. He sucked in a breath and turned towards Miss. Bustier, bringing his hand up and resting it on Marinette's shoulder. She immediately stiffened at the feeling of his warmth seeping into her skin through the sleeve of her shirt. It felt so right for him to touch her like that.

The thought alone made Marinette's entire face flame. _Not like that, Marinette. You know not like that._

" _Je suis désolé_ _,_ _Mlle_ _._ _Bustier,"_ he said to the frowning teacher. "It just slipped out. I won't do it again."

"See that you don't, Adrien," Miss. Bustier said. "Or else we'll need to have a conversation with the principle." She gazed at him as the rest of the class started to file out, leaving Chloé, Sabrina, Marinette, Adrien, Nino, Alya, and Cassie behind. "As it is, you have been running late to some classes, not showing up to others." Marinette felt Adrien's grasp tighten on her shoulder and she tilted her head back to study his face. First she couldn't believe she was so close to him, able to feel heat radiating off of every part of his body. Then she zeroed in on a freckle she hadn't noticed was on the left side of his lower jaw, which was now staring her in the face. Then she got a good look at his eyes, they were wide with fear. "I understand you're making a career as a model, but please do remember that unless you drop out, which I sincerely hope you do not, school comes first."

"Yes, Miss. Bustier," Adrien said. Marinette watched as his eyes and his whole body relaxed. "I apologize." He smiled down at Marinette than dropped his hand from her shoulder, as if he hadn't even noticed he put it there.

"Thank you. You're dismissed. I don't want you to be late to your next class."

Marinette started to say something but was knocked out of the way by Chloé. She stumbled down the steps before a hand pressed down around her wrist, keeping her upright. Marinette turned and watched as Cassie pulled her back to her feet. "Are you okay? Marinette, right?"

"Right," Marinette agreed. "And thanks." She hugged her books to her chest. "So it looks like you had a memorable start here."

"Yeah…" Cassie wrinkled her nose. "I'm not good at public speaking in front of large crowds. I don't like to have a lot of attention on me."

"I know the feeling," Marinette agreed.

Cassie smiled then titled her head over towards Adrien, who was doing his best to get Chloé off his arm as the two walked out of the room. Sabrina trotted along behind them. "So what's up with that blonde girl. Is she Ade's girlfriend or something?"

"Girlfriend?!" Marinette yelped the word so loudly that all eyes turned her way. She grinned, nervously rubbing the back of her head before they all turned away. "No. She's not his girlfriend. No. She, uh, she likes him. But he doesn't really like her. I hope. I mean, I don't know." Marinette took a deep breath. "Chloé just likes to think she's dating him. He hasn't…shown a lot of interest in anyone…" Marinette trailed off. Now that she thought about it, he really _didn't_ show an interest in any girl. And there were plenty of cut girls in the school. But he kept to himself. _Maybe it's because of his Dad,_ Marinette thought.

"Oh, good." Cassie smiled. "I was thinking I'd have to kill him if didn't tell me he was dating someone."

"So you two must be really close then," Marinette said.

"Yeah, he's my best friend. We email each other all the time when I was still back in New York. I feel like I really got to know this place even though I haven't been here for a long time." Cassie shrugged. "Though we don't have anything like Cat Noir or Ladybug back in New York." She laughed. "Not unless you count everyone's fascination with Spider-Man and everything. But they're not real."

Marinette nodded politely. She wasn't sure what she could say that would keep from giving herself away. If she spoke too highly about Ladybug, and knowing her way of running at the mouth, she probably would reveal something she couldn't afford to reveal. It was a secret identity for a reason. Who knows how someone would react.

Actually, it was why she wasn't sure what to say to Alya. Her best friend would understand why she had to keep it a secret and would probably keep it with her, but the slim chance of betrayal…she couldn't risk.

"Hey, Marinette?"

The raven haired teen turned in the direction her name was called and found Adrien looking at her. "Oh." She walked towards him. "Yes?"

"I was thinking maybe we could work on our project at your house tonight since we worked at mine last time," Adrien said. Marinette tried not to smile as Chloé let out a sound of annoyance, dropped Adrien's arm, and then stormed off. But then her eyes shifted to Alya and she could see her best friend trying not to laugh out loud. "And go back and forth like that? Or something?"

"Yeah," Marinette agreed. "Sounds good."

"Great." Adrien then turned to Nino. "I'll be at your house after that. I'll tell my Dad something or maybe Cass can cover for me."

"No problem, cuz," Cassie said with a warm smile. "I can handle Uncle Gabriel."

Marinette worked her way up to Adrien's side and smiled at him. He smiled and winked at her before putting his arm around Nino's shoulder, listening to the music his best friend had come up with the night before. Alya shook her head and gave her boyfriend a quick kiss on the cheek before looping her arm through Marinette's.

"Looks like you have a date tonight," Alya whispered to her.

"Please, we're just working," Marinette whispered back.

"Yeah, but working can always lead to something else."

Marinette rolled her eyes but giggled along with her best friend. She turned to Cassie and waved to her; the new girl's eyes lit up as she increased her speed to walk along with them.

* * *

"You almost had him this time, but he's stronger than I thought…"

Cassie sighed, pulling her hair up into a ponytail, trying to ignore the way her shoulders screamed with pain. Her leg muscles ached with each pulse of her heart as well. She had to be bruised all over if not having sprained something. It was all she could do not to limp or wince with every movement. Cat Noir was really strong. She should've known the fight she initiated that morning wasn't going to be easy. She certainly had underestimated Cat Noir's ability. Who knew the cat was so clever. "I know, Fangg, he put up a hard fight. He must've been a Miraculous longer than we anticipated." She turned to her white wolf kwami as he sat on the top shelf of her locker. She watched as he padded over to her fencing helmet and started to loudly sniff around it. "Would you cut that out?"

"What is it?" Fangg asked, turning back to Cassie as he curled up into a ball, tail resting over his front paws.

"It's a fencing mask. I have to protect my face," she explained.

"Kind of like the mask you wear as a Miraculous." Fangg nodded and Cassie chuckled. He then turned serious, wrinkling his nose, blue eyes shifting back and forth. "There has to be something we can do about Cat Noir. We have to take him down somehow. Many others have tried, but I think you can do it, Cassie."

"I know, Fangg. I know. Besides,"—she started to close her locker door, making sure to grab her helmet—"you know how much I hate cats. I'll see you later." She picked up her fencing foil and walked out of the locker room to the gym. Tucking her helmet under her arm, Cassie walked into the gym and watched as students shuffled back and forth across the floor with their foils, épées, and sabres. She went over to Adrien, who stood at the side and held up her sword. "Let's go."

Adrien smirked, pulling down his mask over his face. "Don't blame me if you get mad once I beat you."

"Funny, I was going to say the same thing to you," Cassie replied. She put her mask on and walked over to a clear spot in the gym. Adrien followed her then stood across from her. The two fell into the fencing stance and brought the tips of their swords up together.

The fight was on.

* * *

 **A/N:** So what do you guys think? Is the pacing okay? Do you think things are moving too slowly? That it could move faster? Is it fine? Thank you for all of the favorites and alerts, don't be shy, let me know what you think. Constructive Criticism is always welcome.

 **Cheers,**

 **-Riles**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 07**

* * *

The contrast between Adrien's family and Marinette's family was so stark it made Adrien nervous. Actually, it made him a bit annoyed, as well as relieved he didn't have to flinch every time someone came near him, but annoyed. Why was it that she could have doting parents and he was stuck with a father that was so…so…

He couldn't come up with the words. Domineering? Mean? Spiteful? Angry? Bitter? The only redeeming qualities of his father Adrien could come up with were that he was driven, a hard worker, and goal oriented. If those goals added breaking Adrien down as much as he could so that he followed his every order he was sure making good on his word.

Adrien couldn't help but look at Sabine and Tom as if they were some sort of an alien as soon as they swept him into the house with bright smiles and words of welcome. "We've heard so much about you," Sabine said, gently grasping his arm as she pulled him through the door. "A lot of good things; don't worry. Marinette always has something nice to say about you."

"Mom!" Marinette cried.

At the sound of her voice, his eyes turned to the left and he found Marinette standing in the living room, an expression of horror on her face. It was the most he had been able to see her speak around him without getting tongue-tied even if it were one word. Actually, he wondered why it was that he was the only one she didn't seem able to talk to. Even when they were working on their project together most of her words were stumbled over if she wasn't looking at her hands, wringing them together. Actually, every now and then she would turn her attention to her purse as if she as looking for something but she didn't bring anything out of it.

That was a bit strange, too.

"We're glad that you're going to be joining us for dinner, "tom added. He practically picked Adrien up and forced him into a seat at the table. "We're having spaghetti today. How do you feel about garlic bread?" Adrien watched as Tom picked up a pan of fresh baked bread and turned it his way. It was shoved under his nose before he got a chance to respond.

"Honey, don't crowd him," Sabine chided. She shooed her husband away before turning her attention back to Marinette, who continued to stand aside, her hands covering her face. "Marinette, don't just stand there. Say 'hi' to your friend." She grasped her daughter's shoulders and walked her over to the seat across from Adrien and sat him down. "She can be so shy sometimes. But you know how that is."

"Don't worry about it, Mrs. Cheng," Adrien said politely, remembering the woman preferred to go by her maiden name rather than her husband's last name. "I understand how it can be. My Mother could be very overzealous at times but it was always with good intentions." He watched as Marinette slowly lowered her hands from her face, enough so that her eyes peeked out from behind her fingers. "Thank you for being so inviting."

"Well, you and Marinette have been friends for a long time and she's never once invited you over," Sabine continued, ignoring her daughter's whimpers of embarrassment. "We're very glad to have you here for dinner with us. Now, what is it about this project I hear you two are working on?"

Adrien spoke up before Marinette could. "It's a bit of a depressing topic but it's something I think would be very informative." That's all he said about it and Sabine nodded before going to make sure their dinner wouldn't burn. Actually, Adrien had sprung the topic on Marinette without really getting her approval on it. He regretted it now but it was the one they were going to work on. Maybe he allowed himself to get too into his anger and frustration after a night of his father's beatings. Maybe he was silently crying out for help without actually asking for it? But the words popped out of his mouth before he could stop them. He regretted it a bit.

If his father found out he would be in trouble.

Adrien turned back to Marinette and gave her a warm smile. "Don't worry about it," he said to her. "My Mother really was the same way. And I've gotten used to it when my Father speaks to some of his co-workers and others he works with." He rolled his eyes. "He's constantly going on and on about me whenever someone asks."

"Yeah, but your parents don't make it seem like you're part of the family on the first day of meeting you," Marinette managed to mumbled back. She placed her hands in her lap and took a deep breath, lifting her chin so she could look him in the eye. "I'm sorry if they embarrassed you."

 _What's embarrassing is knowing my Father would never be this welcoming to any of my friends,_ Adrien thought. He tilted his head to the side and brushed his hair out of his face, only freezing when he noticed Marinette staring hard at him. _What?_ "Is there something on my face?" He started to feel around, in case he had a toothpaste stain or something. Then he remembered the bruising around his eye and he held his breath, briefly closing his eyes. Was this a bruise from the fight against Wolfsbane, where Ladybug didn't show up, or from his father? He really couldn't remember. "Oh, that."

"What happened?" Marinette almost whispered. She started to reach out her hand to touch the spot, and then quickly brought her hand back to her lap. Her face flamed, making her blue eyes stand out even further.

"I ran into a door," Adrien said, thinking of the first plausible excuse. He cleared his throat, sitting up straight when Sabine placed a plate full of steaming food in front of him. "Nino was over at my place recently and we were messing around. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"That must've hurt," Marinette said.

"Well, I'm just glad I didn't break my nose." He lowered his gaze. _And that Father's punch hadn't knocked me out completely. The last time that happened I missed too much school._ He picked up a fork and got a forkful of food and busied himself with eating it. As a matter of fact, he was a few bites in when he realized no one else was eating. "Sorry." He dropped his fork then leaned towards Marinette to whisper, "Did I do something wrong?"

"It's okay," Marinette whispered back. "We just don't eat until we're all seated. You're our guest, don't worry about it."

"So, Adrien!" Tom boomed, sitting at the head of the table. He reached over and slapped Adrien on the back so hard that he jolted forward in his seat, eyes immediately falling shut. "Why don't you tell us a bit about yourself? What have you been up to lately?"

Adrien thought for a moment, brushing his hair back from his face. "Uh, well, I've been doing a lot of photo shoots lately. But that can get kind of boring," he admitted. Marinette looked at him in surprise. "Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for everything I've been able to do, the opportunities that I've gotten, but at the same time I don't like being totted around like a puppet. Being told what to wear, not to wear, when to smile, not to smile. What sports I can and can't do in case I may hurt myself." He waved a hand. "It can get to be a bit overwhelming."

"So what are you going to do about the bruising you've got now?" Tom asked.

"Dad," Marinette hissed.

Adrien flashed her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, he's just asking a question." He turned to address Tom. "Mr. DuPain, I usually have to put on extra makeup to cover any bruising or dark circles or acne." He gestured to his face and smiled. "It was pretty weird at first, but underneath all of those bright lights I'd look like a ghost in comparison."

"And what other activities are you part of?" Tom insisted.

"I fence," Adrien explained. He smiled back and forth between him and Sabine, who was listening just as intently. "And I also play the piano. But I like to fence. It's really competitive and you have to rely on yourself as much as you rely on your team."

"I like that," Tom said with an approving nod. "It's good for men to have a physical activity to be a part of. Now, I don't know if you've noticed my physique, but this didn't come from baking cakes and pies all day. I do like to lift weights every now and then, and I was part of the wrestling team when I was younger."

"He won nearly every wrestling match he was part of, got lots of bodybuilding trophies, baked when he had his off-time, met my Mom when he was doing a delivery, and the rest is history," Marinette said quickly, shifting her eyes back and forth from her father to her mother. "It's really long and boring story that I'm sure you don't want to hear."

"I wouldn't mind to hear it," Adrien said politely.

"Don't worry about it, Adrien," Sabine said with a wave of her hand. She then changed the subject. "Why don't we talk about something else? So what's this project that you two are working on?"

Marinette and Adrien explained the point of the project they were going to be working on for school before the subject switched to the subject of more family friendly topics such as what was going on with the school, the upcoming events the Dupain-Chengs were going to cater, as well as some stories of Marinette when she was a little girl, which made her blush and babble more than Adrien had ever seen. And he felt right at home through it all. It was as if he saw the light and knew it was what a family was supposed to _really_ be like. He wasn't supposed to be closer to his maids and butlers than he was to his father, who typically send Nathalie to watch him rather than dealing with him himself.

He didn't realize how much he missed his mother until then. He missed the way she used to come into his room and stroke his hair to wake him up, how she would have breakfast with him, how she would be there to greet him after school and listen to every little thing he told her about his day from the joke Nino told him at lunch to how the teacher became exasperated with his art class when they decided to finger paint their pieces rather than use brushes. And she smiled every time. As far as he could remember, his father smiled a lot more when she was around, too. The three of them spent a lot of time together doing day trips and everything other families did; they even went to the plays his class would put on.

Next thing he knew, his mother was gone, his father turned in on himself, and Adrien spent more time alone than he could ever handle. He was used to it now but the transition…he could hardly stand it.

Finally, dinner ended and Sabine and Tom gave him and Marinette some space to work on their project. He had brought along a few textbooks he checked out from the library and the two read through a few profiled cases of abuse. Marinette shook her head as she flipped through the pages. "I don't understand how anyone can hurt their kids like that," she said. "It's all really sad."

"Yeah, I know," Adrien murmured. He shook his head, closing his own book. He needed to broach the topic now or else he would have a nervous breakdown. It was bound to happen sooner rather than later, as it was, he could barely hold his pencil still. It was shaking in his grasp. "You know, we can change the topic if you want. I know I sprang it on you but I came up with it on a whim. So if you're feeling like it's a bit too heavy—"

"—No!" Marinette said so quickly, so forcefully that Adrien leaned backwards a little bit. "I mean...its okay. If it's the topic you want to do. I'm just…sort of curious as to why you decided to choose it."

Adrien thought for a moment. He wasn't entirely sure himself. He had been lying in bed, after a beating from his father, glaring at the wall, and decided then. Next thing he knew, he had pressed send on an email that let the teacher know what they were going to be doing. And he couldn't take it back. Shame and fear swallowed him as soon as the notification came up on his screen that he really had done it. What was he going to say to his father when it came up in conversation? And it would come up at some point; his father made it a point to know what was going on at his school. He donated enough money to it.

"On a whim," Adrien said. He shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought we should do something to stand out. Something other people would remember." He twirled his pencil around his finger, forcing his hand to stop shaking. "There's plenty we can do with it. It doesn't have to be like every other project we've done." He rolled his eyes. "Not to mention my Father has high expectations for my grades. So I sort of need to do something big."

"Oh." Marinette nodded. "Okay, I get what you mean. My grades haven't been that great lately."

"Yeah, you're always leaving from class," Adrien added. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat. He hadn't really noticed it at first, because he had to pay so much attention to the lectures they were being given in class. But time and time again their teachers would bring up Marinette's falling asleep in class or her absence to which Alya would try to explain away as well. "

"Oh. Uh." Marinette shifted her gaze, now she was the one that twirled her pencil around her fingers, trying to come up with a good excuse. Adrien understood that, he did nothing but make excuses when someone asked about his fatigue and unexplainable bruises. He certainly couldn't say he was Cat Noir, and he _definitely_ could tell anyone about his father. Thankfully his photo shoots and being a good model was a great excuse. "I haven't been sleeping well lately," she said. "Lots of nightmares and stuff."

"Really?" Adrien tilted his head. "What are they about?"

"Ladybug," Marinette replied.

"Ladybug?"

Her eyes widened and she sat up straight, seeming to realize she had said something wrong. _What's so wrong about saying she's had some nightmares?_ Adrien thought. _I have them all the time._ "Yeah, sometimes I dream I'm her. And I'm trying to save the day but I can't, I always end up really hurt or falling from a really high building with no way to save myself." She let out a low chuckle, shaking her head. "But that's ridiculous right? Me, being Ladybug? She's so strong and brave you know?"

Adrien didn't reply. He wasn't really sure what to say. If he mentioned he had nightmares himself he'd probably explain more than he'd have to. And speaking about Ladybug would probably bring him into having to mention Cat Noir.

"I don't know about you, but dealing with Chloé everyday is brave to me," he finally joked.

"Then you're pretty brave yourself," Marinette replied. She reached out and poked his cheek with the eraser end of her pencil, teasingly twisting it back and forth. "Considering she's all over you, like, every day. How do you deal with that?"

He flashed a mocking smile. "It's easy when you have so many girls chasing after you as it is. I mean, can you imagine having to fend off hordes of fans when you're trying to pay attention to a clicking camera in front of your face." He laughed when Marinette reached out and playfully shoved him on the arm. "Okay, I'm joking. But it does get easier. Chloé's just Chloé. She can be really aggressive sometimes but…" he waved a hand. "I don't pay much attention to it."

"But you don't date," Marinette pointed out. She tilted her head to the side, her hair falling out of her eyes. "You've never really had a girlfriend and I'm sure there are plenty of girls that would be glad to take the position."

"I haven't found anyone I like that much," Adrien admitted. He pressed his lips together. Actually, that wasn't entirely true. Ladybug was who he could certainly see himself with…if only she would allow him to know who she really was. There had been many moments he could've taken advantage of to find out but he respected her wishes not to push her to reveal her identity, so he didn't reveal his as well. If she gave the go ahead, he would be glad to reveal himself to her. "I need someone I can completely be myself around. Who understands everything about me. And I can do the same for her."

"That's really sweet."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Marinette lowered her head. "I hope you find her." Her voice took on a quieter tone that Adrien couldn't help but notice so he asked, "What about you?" She glanced at him in surprise. "What about me?"

"Why don't you have a boyfriend?"

"Oh." She looked like she hadn't thought about it before. She clasped her hands together and Adrien lowered his gaze to notice her fingernails were polished a bright pink, matching the pink jean skirt she wore. "Well, I don't know. I guess I haven't really found that person for me either. I mean, I've been on a few dates—"

"—With Nathaniel," Adrien agreed. He had been happy when the two of them had started to go out. Nathaniel really did like Marinette and he thought the two would make a cute couple. But things hadn't worked out and they weren't together for too long. But they were still friends so it wasn't awkward when all of them were together. "Right. Why did you guys break up? If I'm allowed to ask."

"It just fizzled out," Marinette said honestly. "We're good friends but we couldn't really become boyfriend and girlfriend without things getting weird." She brushed her hair back out of her face and shrugged. "But it's okay. Having a boyfriend it's my life goal. I want to be a fashion designer, so I need to focus on that."

Adrien smiled and nodded. He remembered that, too. Her work was really good. Some of the best he had seen in a while and he was a model that got placed in new clothes from the biggest designers he could ever meet. And some of her clothes were much better.

"Marinette," Sabine said as she walked over to the two, holding onto a plate. "Would you and Adrien like some cookies? They're fresh from the oven." She placed the pate between the two teens before either of them could respond.

"Thanks, Mom," Marinette smiled up at her mother.

"Yeah, Thanks Mrs. Cheng. But I have to get going. My father is probably wondering where I am." Adrien stood up and started to gather his things together. _If he even knows I'm gone._ Once everything was packed up, he picked up a few cookies. "Thank you so much for dinner, it was great."

"You're very welcome, Adrien." Sabine clasped her hands together and smiled joyfully. "We were glad to have you. Feel free to come by again anytime you want."

"Thanks." Adrien smiled to her and then to Marinette. "Thank you for inviting me, Marinette. I had a good time."

"You're welcome, Adrien," Marinette replied. "Thanks for coming over."

Adrien nodded and hurried out of the house. As soon as he was on the street, he opened up the flap of his bag and looked down at Plagg. "Are you okay? I'm sorry I had to in there for so long."

"I'll be fine as long as you brought me back some food," Plagg complained, poking his head out from the top of the bag. "Some Camembert, maybe some Brie. I don't care, Adrien, I'm starving." He looked up at Adrien as pitifully as he could and Adrien rolled his eyes.

"Here." He passed the cookies over to Plagg, whose emerald eyes immediately lit up. The black cat kwami grabbed onto the treats and brought them into the bag. "Is that better?"

Plagg nodded, his mouth filled with the large bite of cookies he had just shoved into his mouth. "Mhm!"

Adrien nodded and closed the flap to his bag once more. He slung his bag over his shoulder and walked back to his house. Once he arrived, his maid walked in and took his bag to bring it to his room while a butler offered to get him something to eat.

"Thank you, but I've already eaten," Adrien replied.

"Miss. Cassie wanted you to know, as soon as you got back, that she has done what you asked her to and you don't have to worry." The butler glanced at him curiously while Adrien felt nothing but a sense of gratitude for his cousin. "I'm not sure I know what that means but she wanted me to share the message."

"Thank you. I'll tell her I got it."

Adrien left the foyer and went to his room. He found his bag resting on the chair at his desk and Plagg nestled in his pillow, continuing to chow down on the cookies he had brought with him. Adrien stopped as he stood in the center of his room. His immaculate room with the latest in technology strewn about. Everything he had his father bought for him, he wasn't allowed to touch the money he made from his modeling jobs other than to buy snacks, CDs, and some of his own clothes. Not much in his room was his, and it had to be kept to his father's standards of cleanliness. Even when he had friends over—which wasn't very often—they weren't allowed to touch anything.

His personal and private life was completely over run by his father. Maybe Gabriel held his identity too.

The only identity he had that was his was Cat Noir and his father was probably going to take that as well.

His father took everything.

And he couldn't take it anymore.

Adrien walked over to his desk and swept his arm across it, knocking everything that had been atop it to the floor with a loud crash. He knew no one was going to hear it, the rooms in the house were so spread apart it would take a colossal noise for it to carry. Adrien went over to his bookshelf and pulled as many books off it as he could. Next thing he knew, he was moving in a frenzy, grunts escaping his mouth as he flung everything he could to the floor, smashed whatever he could, made a dent in anything he could get his hands on.

"Yeah, Adrien! That's the way to cause some havoc!" Plagg cried, cheering him on.

A feral growl escaped his lips and he continued to roll around in his furious whirlwind. Finally he didn't find anything else he could put his hands on and he sank to the floor, trying to catch his breath. His haggard breathing made his chest burn and when he brought his hands up to his face he found his cheeks slick with tears he didn't know he had shed.

As soon as he realized he was crying, Adrien broke. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to the floor and sobbed.

"Why?" He cried. "Why me?"

* * *

 **A/N:** Don't worry; there are plenty of happy chapters/moments for Adrien coming soon. As a matter of fact the next one is a pretty lighthearted/happy/cute one. I just needed one more that had angst to it. I'm also going to bring in Alya and Nino more as the story goes on. I don't know how long the story will end up being but I have most of it planned out.

And for those wondering, I plan to have this story updated every Sunday so that it's updated on the same day as the new episode of Ladybug airs in the US. Thanks again for all of the favorites and alerts. It means a lot.

 **Cheers,**

 **-Riles**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 08**

* * *

"Cat Noir and Ladybug seem to have their hands full as of late," Hawk Moth remarked as he paced back and forth through his alcove. His butterflies zigged and zagged around him, their wings gently brushing by his face and arms. "The appearance of this Wolfsbane is something that I may have to take advantage of. She seems to be against Cat Noir as much as I am. I could use her to steal their Miraculouses."

Hawk Moth turned on his heel and started back across the floor of the large room. Tapping his cane against the floor, the sound vibrations signaled for the large bay window that looked over Paris to open. He let out a low sigh, pressing his hand against the window and looking down over the city of Paris. Oh, how he loved the city. There was always something going on, there were always events that were being planned. So much so that he could practically set his watch to it. As a matter of fact, in his real life he always had to work, designing the next best thing that would work on their consistently changing culture.

As it was, he needed to remind Adrien that he was to appear at a photo shoot the next weekend for his new line he was promoting soon. _If that boy can do something right, it's at least sit in front of a camera and smile every now and then._

Clearing his throat, Hawk Moth shifted his thoughts back to Cat Noir and Ladybug. He knew a lot about Miraculouses, but heard nothing of this Wolfsbane. And now she was specifically targeting Cat Noir? He could use that to get to Ladybug, to get both of their Miraculouses and become the most powerful Miraculous there ever was. But how to do that? He didn't believe it would be easy to try and akumatized a Miraculous nor did he think she would willingly turn to his side. Hawk Moth turned his attention back towards his butterflies.

They continued to flip and flutter around him. And an idea struck him. What if…what if he managed to find a way to outnumber Cat Noir and Ladybug? What if instead of focusing on them one by one he focused on a great plan to take them down?

"Maybe," Hawk Moth murmured, turning from the large bay window and started to leave. He brought a hand up to his chest and removed the flower inspired Miraculous from the front of his clothing, reverting back to Gabriel Agreste. "Maybe I need an army…"

* * *

"I'm just saying it's been over three years and you still haven't told Adrien how you felt," Alya said as she sat on the front steps next to Marinette. She put her arm around Marinette's shoulders and gently poked her best friend in the cheek. "I mean, you're bringing him breakfast every morning, he's already met your parents on more than one occasion, and he's had dinner with them and managed to get through it unscathed. If that's not boyfriend material, I don't know what is."

Marinette gave her best friend a teasing smile. "Oh yeah? How many times has Nino come over to your place to meet _your_ parents? You've been going out for about that long, too."

Alya shook her finger in front of Marinette's face. "We're not talking about me, we're talking about _you!_ Even Nino says that you two should get together already." Her expression shifted and she let out a low sigh, turning her attention to her feet. "And well, my parents love Nino. _I_ love Nino. And well…I've showed him that a few times."

Marinette's eyebrows furrowed together. "What? What do you mean?"

Alya's dark cheeks darkened even further as she blushed. "You know what I mean," She murmured. Marinette shook her head. "Oh, okay, you know when you're _really_ in love with someone and you want to do _more_ than kiss…?" She gave Marinette a meaningful glance.

For a moment, Marinette tilted her head to the side as she tried to work it out. Then it hit her like a ton of bricks. Or like the way she felt like a flattened bug when she slammed into the side of a building while swinging along the rope of her Lucky Charm. She got t alright. And she couldn't help but smile and move closer to her best friend, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"You have?" Alya nodded. "With Nino?" Alya nodded again. "Wow. What was it like? Did it hurt? I hear it hurts the first time. How many times?" The questions came flying out of her mouth one right after the other. To the point that Alya leaned back out of the way and smiled at her friend, relief evident in her body language.

"Why?" Alya shot back. "Have you thought about it? With Adrien?"

Marinette felt her face explode with warmth and she turned away from her best friend, placing her hands into her lap. She wrung her hands together. Okay, it was a bit silly and a bit weird if anyone else found out, but she had thought about it. Once or twice. Imagined it, really. It would be sweet and gentle, she knew that. But she couldn't allow herself to think about it for too long or else she would blush for too long and then if anyone asked she would get nervous and then probably accidentally blurt it out and, God, she couldn't handle that.

"Please, Alya, we're not even dating," Marinette murmured. She winced as her fingers started to hurt, squeezing them too tightly together.

"But you _should_ be," Alya pressed. "Everyone thinks so. You know Nathaniel doesn't care if you go out with anyone else. The whole school is basically saying you two should get together now. You're even bringing him breakfast."

"Yeah, but you know it's because he's constantly doing photo shoots before school," Marinette pointed out. "And…you know the way he lives. He always looks so sad before he sees his friends again." She glanced at her backpack, where the brown bag filled with the breakfast she had for him that day was sitting. "I'm just being nice."

"Okay, okay," Alya said. "I can see you don't really want to talk about this. So why don't we talk about Ladybug?" She shifted into her pocket for her cell phone.

Marinette couldn't help but giggle. She should've known her best friend would have something else to put up on her blog, there was always something. Within the first few years she had started to don the polka-dotted mask, Marinette thought Alya would have gotten bored of the masked hero and move onto something else, maybe collaborate with Nino's blog—which would've been so cutely named DJWiFi—but no. Alya was still so into Ladybug. But instead of being the hardened investigative reporter that she used to be, which had her turn into an Akumatized monster in the first place, she saw things and got information in a more objective view, taking in comments and suggestions and guest blog posts from those that frequented her blog. The posts about the potential identity of Ladybug waned as posts of her sightings in general, thank you's from those she saved, and words of encouragement from others took over.

But this time, as Alya turned the phone her way, she frowned when she spotted a picture of Cat Noir and Wolfsbane locked in battle, snarls apparent on both of their faces. Marinette studied the picture as the seconds passed. She still had no idea what it was that Wolfsbane wanted with Cat Noir and why she wasn't the one being targeted if she was the only one that could de-evilize the akumas. _It probably has to go back to its Egyptian roots,_ Marinette thought. _Just like when we found the depictions of Ladybug and Cat Noir at the exhibit in the Louvre._ Well, they only found Ladybug, but Cat Noir had to be in there somewhere, too. She hadn't looked in a while.

"My sources says she calls herself Wolfsbane," Alya pointed out as she took the phone back from Marinette.

"Where'd you get this picture?" Was the first thing Marinette said once she broke out of her thoughts. She couldn't get close enough to help let alone have pictures taken. As a matter of fact, she wondered if there were cameras set around multiple places where she would have potentially have gotten caught transforming.

"From the day they were fighting at school," Alya replied. She then wagged her finger towards her once more. "But as for my sources, I cannot tell you. It's a secret and against journalistic integrity if I do. Just know that I got it. And this may not be good for the city. We're already having so many issues with the monsters that come up in general, and if this Wolfsbane takes down Cat Noir and Ladybug, we won't be safe." She shook her head. "But there are some people out there that are questioning her in general, why is she going against the two people that are trying to save us all?"

"Yeah…" Marinette agreed.

"What do you think, Marinette?"

Startled at the sudden change in her best friend's tone, Marinette looked up and found Alya staring hard at her. Her green eyes bored into Marinette's and Marinette felt herself freeze. She gave a sheepish smile and turned away with a shrug. "I don't know, really," she finally managed to say. "It's all so confusing. I mean, where'd they even come from in the _first_ place? And why Paris? That's what _I'd_ like to know."

"Uh-huh." Alya didn't sound convinced. As a matter of fact, Marinette glanced at her out of the corner of her eye and found her friend was still staring at her. Then she shook her head and looked away from her. "Either way it is all weird. I'd _love_ to be able to be the one to get the massive scoop about it."

"I'm sure you will, Alya, you're a great reporter," Marinette reassured her. She smiled warmly at her and turned back to the front of the school. Her eyes lit up when she spotted Adrien's car arrive and he and Cassie climbed out of the back seat. Then her smile waned when she saw how red Adrien's eyes were, how slack his face looked how…how _unhappy_ he appeared. _I've never seen him this bad before,_ Marinette thought. _I hope he's okay._ She watched as Nino came up to the cousins, greeting Adrien enthusiastically.

Adrien replied with a nod and a smile and even Marinette could see it didn't reach his face, it wasn't so genuine. Then Alya stood up and called Nino over, waving her hand over her head and the three headed their way.

"Hey," Cassie greeted the two girls with a warm smile. "Good Morning."

"We haven't missed anything eventful have we?" Nino asked, giving Alya a kiss on the cheek in greeting. Marinette caught Alya's eye and covered her mouth with her hands as she giggled knowing what she did now. Alya, hearing Marinette's giggle, blushed and stuck her tongue out at her. "What? What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," Alya said quickly. "Nothing. And nothing eventful has been going on. Nothing dealing with Ladybug or Cat Noir if that's what you mean."

"Yeah, it was really weird that they showed up at school like that," Adrien agreed. His voice was gruff and he didn't have any energy to it. As if he was getting over a sore throat or something. Despite her worry, Marinette couldn't help but swoon a little. His voice sounded so cute like that, like he had just woken up. "Don't you think?"

"Especially because there didn't seem to be any other monsters here when they did," Alya added. "Isn't that sort of the point?" She held out her phone. "Except for this new Wolfsbane person."

"Ah, I'm sure Ladybug and Cat Noir can handle that," Nino said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "They're strong and they've been protecting us for a while."

"So how long has this stuff been going on?" Cassie's eyebrows lowered as she looked back and forth between the group. In her hands she held a volleyball, constantly spinning it around and around, almost like a nervous habit. "I mean, my mother and I were warned about it when our plane touched down in Paris. Is it really as bad as they say?" Her eyes then widened when she got exasperated sighs and murmurs in response. "Okay, so a really long time. Must be getting pretty tired."

"You have no idea," Adrien muttered again.

Cassie then lifted her chin and started to loudly sniff around. Then her eyes zeroed in on Marinette's backpack. "Is that a croissant I smell?" She took a step towards it and continued to sniff. "With cream cheese?" She then noticed all eyes on her and blushed, taking a step back. "Sorry," she quickly apologized. "I have a really sensitive sense of smell."

Marinette chuckled. She had seen a lot of weird things and that didn't even come close to the things she had experienced. "Yeah, it is." She reached into her backpack and took the bag out, passing it over to Adrien. "Cream Cheese and fruit. I hope you like it."

Adrien stared at the bag for a long moment, as if he didn't recognize it. Then his face brightened and he stood up straight, some of his moodiness going away. "Thanks, Marinette." He said it so sincerely her heart soared just like it did every time he said her name. She was glad he could see she at least brightened his day a little bit. _But what's gotten you so worried, Adrien?_ She remembered the conversation they had at dinner the night before; where her father constantly asked him about his bruises when he and her mother weren't shoving food down his throat.

But Adrien had a good time. His mood was a stark contrast than it was today. So something had to have happened when he left. _Is he having trouble at home? Something with his Dad?_ Marinette took a deep breath. "So, about my parents," She started. "I'm sorry if they embarrassed you or anything."

Adrien looked taken aback, as if he hadn't considered the possibility. "Don't worry about it," Adrien reassured her. "Your parents are great! Very hospitable. They didn't embarrass me at all."

"But he _did_ talk about you guys a lot this morning," Cassie broke in, grinning at her cousin. He rolled his eyes. "I couldn't get him to stop. Which is a surprise considering I usually can't get him to start."

"That's because you talk so much and have such a big mouth that I can't get a word in," Adrien shot back. He moved to take another bite of his croissant then leaned away when Cassie made a move to grab it. He placed his hand on her cheek and pushed her backwards. "Get your own! She brought this for me! Besides, you didn't have a photo shoot to do this morning."

"Oh, I'm sorry that your prancing around a fountain was so much work that you can't even share with your favorite cousin," Cassie shot back, planting her hands on her hips.

Adrien smirked. "You're my _only_ cousin. I have no choice but to like you. If I did, I wouldn't."

Cassie whacked him on the arm. "Don't be so mean, Ade."

"Then don't be so bossy, Cass."

Marinette, Alya, and Nino all laughed. It was obvious he two were as close, almost like brother and sister the way they she teased him all the time.

"Okay, okay, before we start a blood bath out here on the sidewalk, I think we should head to class," Nino said, waving his hands. "I don't think Miss. Bustier can handle _anyone_ being late, let alone Adrien or Marinette."

Marinette and Adrien both froze. That was right. Their English Literature teacher had sent them an email saying if they missed any more days of class or were late to any more of them, then they would have to make it up in detention. If it got worse than that, their parents would have to come in and talk to them. Any more after that…suspension, expulsion, maybe. They couldn't risk it.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Marinette stooped down to pick up her bag. Tikki popped her head out from one of the inside compartments. "Don't think about coming out now, Tikki. I have so much to worry about."

"I heard," Tikki whispered back. "But what are you going to do? You can't ignore your duties as Ladybug but you can't afford to miss more class either. What if Wolfsbane attacks again? Or Hawk Moth decides to send out another Akumatized monster to try and get your Miraculous?"

"I don't know, Tikki. But you heard; I can't miss anymore class. If I get any more detentions or suspensions, I'll be grounded forever. And when I'm grounded, I'm put to work in the bakery with my Dad. Not that I don't normally enjoy it, but being watched like that…" Marinette shuddered, holding her backpack to her chest. She looked up to find that the group had already left her to go inside the school. _That's weird, why didn't they wait for me?_ "I wouldn't be able to get away if something else _did_ happen. I can't afford that risk."

"I know," Tikki agreed, bowing her bulbous head. She then smiled and patted Marinette's hand. "Don't worry, we'll think of something."

"Thanks, Tikki."

Tikki nodded and ducked back into Marinette's backpack. She looked at the time on her phone and quickly ducked inside, heading to the classroom. The hallways were already empty though she could hear exuberant noises coming from multiple rooms. Class hadn't started yet but everyone was getting ready, she had to move fast.

"Dad, class is about to start, can I call you back later? I know the time difference is hard, but I can't afford to be late." Marinette followed the sound of her voice as it neared her classroom and peeked around the corner to find Cassie pacing back and forth, her cell phone to her ear. The gray suspenders that hooked on the back of her white jeans dusted the floor as she went. "Everything's going fine. I'm making a lot of friends." Then Cassie frowned, lowering her voice. "No boyfriends. I'm not interesting in anyone. I just want to see Uncle Gabriel and Adrien." She suddenly paused, face crumpling with hurt. "I'm not a whore, Dad," she muttered under her breath. "Neither is Mom, I don't know…I don't know why she isn't calling you…she hasn't said anything…Okay Dad. I love you, too. Bye."

Marinette walked over as Cassie hung up her phone and shoved it into her cross body bag, brushing her hair back from her cheeks. "Hey," Marinette said softly, causing Cassie to jump and turn her way. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. But I couldn't help but overhear…"

"Oh, that?" Cassie smiled a sad smile. "My Dad…he's a retired vet. He can be pretty hard to deal with sometimes with the way he was trained and his PTSD….And he's very protective of me," she added quickly. "He doesn't like it when I talk to boys, you know? Afraid that I'll get into trouble or something."

"I guess I can understand that," Marinette said kindly. But in reality she had no idea what that would be like; for a father to be anything but loving. Her father was her best friend and had been since she was young. They played video games together and talked about comic books and worked in the bakery together. But she was also close to her mother; they enjoyed gardening, shopping, and reading together. "He's probably worried because you're so far away."

"Yeah, well, next time he calls I'm not going to answer," Cassie said with a frown.

Marinette blinked. "That's a bit…petty don't you think?" She asked. "He's your father."

"So? I have a better relationship with my Uncle anyway." Cassie seemed to be speaking more to herself than to Marinette. "Well, I _did_." She shook her head and walked into the classroom with Marinette following her. She was surprised to find the entire class paired together with Adrien waiting for her at an empty table. She walked over and set her bag down on the floor before sitting across from him.

"What's going on?"

Adrien flicked his head to the side, moving his hair from his face. "Mr. Baudin is giving us time to work on our projects."

"Right." Marinette cleared her throat. "Adrien, about the project? You decided the topic without speaking to me about it."

Adrien frowned, his lips forming a slight pout. "I thought you didn't have a problem with it?"

"I don't. I was just really caught off guard when you said we had a topic when we didn't discuss it."

"I know. It really came out of nowhere." He reached out his hand and grabbed onto hers. "And I'm really sorry. I promise I won't do anything like that again. We're equal partners on this project and we're going to do it all fifty-fifty. Right?"

Marinette grinned. "Right. But…did you have any idea in mind of how we were to present this?"

"Maybe try and ask people their experiences with it?"

"I don't think we can go around asking people if they're abused, they probably wouldn't want to talk about it so openly."

Adrien blinked at her. Had the thought really never crossed his mind? "I guess you're right," he agreed. "But don't worry, we'll figure something out one we get all of the information we need. I'm sure finding the statistics and facts and figures won't be hard. Maybe we can visit some hospitals, too. Or something." He shrank in is seat, as if expecting to be told off.

"That's a great idea." Marinette quickly wrote it down, forced to remove her hand from his grasp. It felt cold without his touch.

"Really?"

"Yeah!" Marinette eyed him for a minute. "Is everything okay?"

Now his eyes shifted. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, you haven't really been acting yourself lately," She said honestly. "Normally when you get to school you're excited about everything. Especially when it comes to seeing your friends. And lately it's like you're in some other world or something." He looked out the window and Marinette jumped on it. "Oh, you're afraid of some other attack right? Don't worry; I think Ladybug can handle it."

Now Adrien's green eyes flashed with friendly challenge. "You don't think Cat Noir can handle things on his own? He's a pretty awesome guy. He can do anything."

"Yeah, but Ladybug is always the one that has to get things finished." Marinette tried her hardest not to smirk. It was always kind of silly to talk about herself like that, but in this case it wasn't so bad. They were just having a friendly debate about Ladybug and Cat Noir. It wasn't like he knew she was Ladybug or anything. "From what I can tell, Cat Noir seems to just flirt with her when he's not shooting off cat puns."

"Oh yeah? How would you know?"

 _Busted,_ Marinette thought. She wracked her brains for an excuse. "Alya's blog."

"Really?" Adrien laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them, flashing his silver ring in her face. He always wore that ring, she noted, briefly wondering where he got it and why he was so attached. "I've read her blog, too and she says Cat Noir does a great job in helping Ladybug. If it weren't for him then she probably wouldn't have been able to get out of so many close calls. Like the time they were attacked by Lady WiFi." He snapped his fingers together, pointing at her between the eyes. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you've even said he was awesome, too."

Did she? _Oh yeah._ When she worked with Cat Noir to stop the Evillustrator. That seemed so long ago. Even then he was sort of insufferable; acting like he was God's gift to Earth and that it was her honor to be working with him. "He is," she admitted. "But he can be kinda…loud; I think is the right word. He had a big presence." She smiled teasingly. "And don't you think they'd get a lot more done if he didn't flirt so much?"

Adrien gave a sad smile. "It's hard to like someone who doesn't give you the time of day to even talk about your feelings, rather than outright ignore them," he said.

Marinette was taken aback. Was she _really_ that way towards Cat Noir? He did flirt with her a lot, but she was just trying to turn his attention back to their fight. Their _serious_ fights that usually ended in something being broken. Every now and then her Lucky Charm didn't have enough reach—and she assumed it was because of how much time and energy she had already used within the battle—to clean up everything and that was her main priority.

"I think he's brave he pushes it aside to still be there for her," Adrien continued. "They're a team, right? Them against the world." For a minute Marinette wasn't' sure they were still talking about Ladybug and Cat Noir, but then he bounced back with, "And considering this Wolfsbane is after him, I think it'll just prove that he's good for something other than helping Ladybug catch Akumas. Their last fight was especially brutal; nearly fell in through the roof a few times."

"Huh?" Marinette wrinkled her nose.

Adrien tilted his head. "What?"

"You said he almost fell through the roof a few times…how'd you know that?"

Adrien's eyes widened and he lifted his head. "Alya's blog," he finally muttered, lowering his head. "She must've gotten an interview with him or some other footage or something. I don't remember." He cleared his throat once more. "But if they did get in a legitimate fight, I think Cat Noir would win."

 _Excuse me?_ Marinette couldn't help but narrow her eyes. "Excuse me? I think we all know that Ladybug would win."

"No. Really." Adrien started to tap the table-top. "Think of it like this; Cat Noir has all of the senses and reflexes like an actual cat. He had nine lives. That'll keep him from getting too hurt. What about Ladybug?"

"Ladybug has the power of good luck on her side," Marinette broke in. "She doesn't need all of those extra things."

"So, in other words, she's a wimp." Marinette could see the teasing flash in Cat Noir's eyes and couldn't help but laugh. This was silly but fun at the same time. "I mean, that yo-yo of hers sure can do a lot of cool things. But when it comes to sheer strength and power, Cat Noir's got her beat."

"Why? Because he's a guy."

"No, because he's in top physical condition."

"Right! With those scrawny arms and legs?"

Now Adrien pouted as Marinette giggled. She looked down at her notebook, missing Adrien examine his arms and legs muttering, "they're not scrawny", and noticed they hadn't written anything down. All of their meetings so far seemed to end up like that, but they always ended up having a good time together. And that's what mattered right? Having a good team led to good partnerships, led to a group project.

 _And maybe a date,_ Marinette added silently.

"You know, if I knew that class projects could be this much fun, I would've chosen you to be my partner ages ago," Adrien said, dropping his hands. "I mean, Nino's cool and all but I usually end up doing most of the work because he's so busy with some sort of music thing he's just created. We should've paired up before."

"We could have, but you know Chloé," Marinette said. She tilted her head to the side and Adrien followed Marinette's gaze to find Chloé glaring hard at the two of them. She smiled and blew a kiss when she saw Adrien looking their way, and then glared at Marinette once more.

"Ignore her," Adrien instructed. "I do. She just thinks we should be together because of our wealth."

"Well, it has to be fun, right?" Marinette pressed. "Sometimes."

"Yeah, but it's hard to be able to spend time with my friends because Dad is so private. That's why I like being able to work on this with you. He can't say 'no' to that."

Marinette blushed. "Really?"

"Yeah, we're friends aren't we?"

And that's how the rest of the class went as it was per usual when they worked together. For part of the time they were able to get some work done. Other times they spent much more time learning new things about each other and laughing a lot. When the class ended neither of the teens wanted it to end. But they had to get to their next class.

"So when do you want to get together again?" Adrien asked. "My place isn't so great." He and Marinette joined their friends as they waited at the door. He tilted his head towards Cassie. "And I don't want to be interrupted."

"Oh come on, cuz, you know you have more fun when I'm around," Cassie said, putting her arm around her cousins' shoulders. "Besides, Mr. Baudin assigned me a project too, and I'm further behind than you guys. So I'll need all weekend to even come up with a topic."

"Yeah, we have to work on ours, too," Alya said. She raised her hands as if reading from a newspaper headline. "Music Journalism throughout the ages. So that way we can combine both of our talents."

"Right and how much time have you spent studying compared to making out?" Adrien teased.

"I know!" Cassie's eyes lit up. "Why don't you guys all come out to Lyon this weekend? That's where my Mom is staying while she's working and I'm out here for school during the week. We'll have a blast. And there's a lot to do over there when we're not working on our projects, and we won't have to worry about it being ruined by these…monsters everyone's talking about. Plus, it'd give you a chance to catch up with Mom, Ade. She hasn't seen you in a while. I've been talking to Uncle Gabriel whenever he's not working and it's really not fair you can't do the same."

Marinette froze. _Leave Paris_? Even if it was just for the weekend Hawk Moth could do so much damage to the city. And with Ladybug not there the Akumatized monsters would run rampant. She watched as Alya and Nino quickly agreed to the trip but Adrien seemed suspiciously silent. He seemed to be deep in thought. _But then again…maybe Adrien was right when he said that Cat Noir doesn't get a lot of chances to show his worth. I'd hate to let him think he can't handle things by himself for once._

"I'm in," she said. Hearing an extra voice, she realized Adrien said it at the same time.

"Awesome!" Cassie punched her fists into the air, bouncing on her toes. "I'll tell Mom the good news. She'll be excited to know people are coming over."

"Just as long as you get her to make her famous croquet monsieur, cuz," Adrien said.

"Promise. I can not, not, _not_ wait!"

"It'll be great to get some time away," Alya added. "Especially without having to worry about parental supervision. My parents insist on knowing where I'm going all the time. So this'll be a good change."

Nino suddenly frowned, removing his arm from Alya's shoulders. He turned to his best friend. "Then maybe you should speak to your father about it," he suggested, to which Adrien mutely nodded. "And then let me know what he decides, alright?"

Adrien smiled a relieved smile. "Thanks, dude."

"You got it."

The two fist-bumped, causing the girls to laugh.

Adrien caught Marinette's eye and they smiled.

* * *

 **A/N:** So I have the plot to this entire story planned out and I can tell you now there's not going to be a sequel; it's a standalone story. However I still can't tell you with confidence how many chapters it'll be. One thing I can say for sure, though, is that considering this is based when they're 17/18 it's a bit difficult to act like the show already happened when the first season is only airing.

Also, thank you for the favorites and alerts. Let me know what you guys think of the chapter? Do you want Adrien and Marinette (And by extension Cat Noir and Ladybug) to get together already? Haha!

 **Cheers,**

 **-Riles**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 09**

* * *

"So?"

Adrien looked over at Nino, briefly pausing as he packed his duffle bag for the weekend. His eyes shifted for a moment, trying to figure out what topic of conversation his best friend was trying to start. Hopefully nothing that had to do with his father, he really didn't want to talk about it at the moment. HE also didn't want to talk about why Adrien was being so brazen by letting Nino into the house and in his room while his father wasn't there. "So what?" Adrien finally asked, unsure as to what Nino as referring to.

Nino sighed heavily, pushing his glasses up his nose. Reaching up, he turned the brim of his hat around so that it faced his neck and leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. He regarded Adrien with an annoyed look, shaking his head. "So when are you going to tell Marinette that you like her as much as she likes you? If not more." Adrien raised his gaze towards the ceiling as he tried to figure out what to say in response. Nino kept going with, "This weekend would be the perfect time to tell her. We're going to be away in a different city, your Dad's not going to be around…"

"And you know my father is the only reason I'm not going to tell her," Adrien replied a little sharply. He watched Nino's head jerk back at the sudden hostility in his best friend's tone and sighed. Turning, he sat down on the floor, stretching his legs out. "I'm sorry, Nino," he apologized. "I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

"That's alright," Nino said with a wave of his hand. And that's why he was Adrien's best friend; he was certainly able to get over their fights as quickly as possible. "I know things are hard. But maybe…I don't know maybe Marinette can help. I mean, you guys are doing your project on it so…" He tilted his head to the side.

Adrien mimicked his movement, tilting his head as well. "What?"

"Well, from what Alya says, the project topic was your idea," Nino said slowly. "Maybe you decided to do it…so you could figure out if your life was normal?"

A snort escaped Adrien's lips. "My mother is gone, my father is a fashion tycoon, and my butlers and maids are more like my family than my own father is. Yeah, that's normal. We're like the Brady Bunch only my entire 'family' is Alice." He smiled at his own joke. Joking was always the best way for him to get over the constant pain he had to endure. Nino was never comfortable with the jokes Adrien made, especially when it came to the cuts and bruises he sported, but at least Adrien was dealing with it in his own way rather than denying it. "Or maybe like the Stepford Wives."

"I mean," Nino insisted. "Maybe you were trying to bring attention to what was going on with you?"

Adrien shook his head, blond fringe flying. "No. I'm not trying to…" he paused, running a hand through his hair. "No one can know," he said. "No one other than you and me can know, Nino. You know that. I've explained…"

"I get it," Nino agreed. His eyes flashed as he surged to his feet. He then kneeled by his best friend and grabbed onto his shoulders, shaking him. "I get that you love your father and you don't want anything to happen to him. But do you _really_ care about him more than yourself to the point that you'll let him kill you before he realizes what he's doing is wrong?"

"He's not going to kill me," Adrien declared. He shoved Nino's hands away. "He's not. My father loves me, he's just…I'm always making him mad. I don't do what he wants me to do. I'm not good enough. I just have to try harder, that's all." He rested his palms on his jean covered knees and started to rub them back and forth. "That's why I need to get good grades on this project. I won't tell him the topic, just the grade. It's better to write about something you know, right?"

"So you should know that what's happening isn't your fault," Nino insisted. "None of it is your fault. He's not going to stop because he's always going to find a reason in your life or his life that'll make him continue to hurt you. And one day he's going to go too far."

"No, he's not," Adrien insisted. He shook his head. "He loves me. Everything's going to be fine. I promise." Adrien shook his hair from his face. He thought about the project and everything they figured out so far. Admittedly it wasn't a lot. He couldn't explain it but when he and Marinette were together they always managed to talk about everything else but their project. And he really did enjoy it. She was someone he could truly be himself around.

As a matter of fact he liked her for a long time and wasn't quite sure himself when he first started to fall for her. He had always found it weird and a little disheartening she was always able to speak to everyone else in their class just fine rather than him, but quickly deduced that she liked him. It was the same way he reacted when he was around Ladybug so he understood the nerves that could take someone over. But Ladybug clearly didn't like him so he wasn't sure why he still tried. The time he tried to turn his attention towards Marinette she had already moved on to Nathaniel. That had been their second year of school and he thought the two of them would be together for the rest of their school year, they got along well. But then the two had broken up and it was like Marinette said, they were just friends.

So maybe he had a chance now?

 _No, Adrien, you know you can't do that,_ he reminded himself, shaking his head. _You'll put her in danger and you don't want that._ But then his mind switched back to the night he had spent with her family, having dinner and working on their project. Her family was so nice and it was clear they liked him just fine. And Marinette had even tried to defend him about his bruises when her father started to question them—of which Adrien hadn't anticipated so that he had become frozen for a moment when the words came out. And she brought him food every morning knowing that he didn't always have something due to his photo shoot schedule.

Then there was the scarf he had received for his birthday. As of late he started to question whether it truly was from his father. Since that birthday he hadn't received anything as extravagant and heartfelt as that scarf. The past couple of years he got an organizer to know when he was going to have a photo shoot or some other sort of a modeling gig or appearance he was to make with his father, and a book about a subject he had absolutely no interest in. However he wasn't one to be ungrateful for a gift and thanked his father for each of them. But that scarf…it had meant something it was certainly hand stitched as he could see, and he wasn't sure his father was even aware of that.

No.

The scarf couldn't be from him. Even though he still didn't know who it was from, it was still one of his favorite birthday gifts. At least someone had put some thought into the day for him. Nino tried to get a birthday party going for him and even when it was done because he had been Akumatized into a Bubbler, Adrien had fun at first. Later that night Nino had apologized for not having been able to do anything for him and the two had played video games together until Adrien had to go home. That was something.

"Adrien? Hello?"

Adrien was shocked out of his thoughts with a sudden punch on the arm. Scowling, he looked over at Nino who grinned at him. "Lost in thoughts of Marinette, huh?" He teased. Before Adrien could retort, Nino continued, "I mean we're going to Lyon for the weekend. We'll be alone. Only your Aunt will be there to supervise. If there's anything more romantic than that, I'm not sure. I bet even Alya and I are going to take advantage of it. Why don't you take advantage of it with Marinette? Even Cassie wants it to happen."

"Even Cassie wants 'what' to happen?" Cassie asked as she strolled into Adrien's room, hearing her name called. Adrien watched as she sat down on Adrien's bed, jostling his bag. He could see the small pocket on the side wiggling and had to assume Plagg didn't like being woken from his slumber like that. He smiled a little, already knowing that his kwami was going to ask for some Camembert once they were alone once more. "What's going on?" She crossed her legs at the knee, leaning back and watching the two.

Adrien glared at Nino, silently warning him to keep quiet, but Nino turned to the girl. "I was just saying that Adrien should hurry up and ask Marinette out already."

"Oh, I agree," Cassie said emphatically. "The girl clearly likes you a lot if she brings you breakfast every morning." She then leaned forward and scrutinized her cousin carefully. "And you like her. That much is obvious. So why haven't you asked her out yet? Don't tell me that you don't think you're good enough for her, cuz."

"No, that's not it," Adrien said quickly. He shot Nino a look, who shrugged sheepishly. She didn't need to know what Gabriel was doing either or else that would put him in danger. But then again, as far as he knew, his father might've been doing the same thing to her. Why else would he have allowed her to stay at their house throughout the school year if he didn't like anyone else to come over? "I just…I have too much stuff to do. I have all of my modeling—"

"—that's a lame excuse," Cassie interrupted. She tilted her head to the side, studying him carefully. "What's going on, cuz? You've been acting really strange lately. I mean, you don't really want to hang out, you're much quieter than you used to be…it's like you don't ever want to do anything anymore."

Adrien grimaced. Had he really changed that much? He did remember all of the fun times the two of them had together. And they _had_ drifted apart a little bit within the last few years. But he _had_ become busy with his responsibilities as Cat Noir. He couldn't help that could he? Shaking his head, Adrien gave his friend and his cousin a smile. "Well, we'll see how that changes once we get out of here, right?"

"That's what I like to hear!" Nino declared.

"Good." Cassie smiled and reached out, rubbing his knee. "Because I really want you there. And you know my Mom is really looking forward to seeing you again. She doesn't stop talking about her little nephew." She rolled her eyes and Adrien grabbed a pillow off his bed, pushing it into her face.

"Well, now that we have that figured out, I think I should get going before Mr. Agreste gets home and forcibly throws me out," Nino remarked. He and Adrien fist-bumped and he left the bedroom.

Adrien turned back to Cassie, looping his arms around his upraised knees. "So how come Uncle Danny didn't come back?" At the mention of his name, Cassie's face fell and something flashed across her face, something that looked familiar. "Is everything okay, Cass?"

"Fine. Just fine." Cassie pushed a handful of her hair behind her ear. "He really wants to see you, Ade, but he's had so much stuff that he's had to do back home that he couldn't come with us. But he'll come next time, I guess. He's asked about you, I've said things were going okay." Her eyes shifted. "I'm sorry I didn't let you talk to him when he called, he couldn't talk much. So busy he'd hardly let you get a word in himself."

"That's alright, I'll just catch him later," Adrien replied. He sighed, looking around his room. "I still have a lot of packing I need to do, and I have some homework. What about you? Are you having any trouble with things around here?"

"No, they're fine," Cassie said. "I'm actually really liking it here. I'm thinking of moving back."

"What about New York?"

"It was never home to me. I miss things here. It's all so much…easier." Cassie shrugged and smiled again. She looked at her phone as it started to ring and stood up. "Oh, it's Mom. Probably figuring out everything for the weekend. I'll catch you later, okay?"

"Okay."

Adrien watched her leave, waiting for the door to close, before turning back to his bag and opening the flap. Plagg rocketed out of the pocket and zoomed a lap around the room before coming to a stop in front of Adrien. "Do you know how bad your bag smells?" he demanded. "You're constantly complaining of Camembert, but you have you ever gotten a really good sniff of your gym socks?"

"I'm sorry, Plagg," Adrien apologized. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small Tupperware container that held a wedge of cheese. Reaching inside, Adrien tried not let the piece get too close to his nose as he held it out to his kwami. "But you know I can't let anyone see you. Besides, this was the first time I've had someone over once father wasn't here. I kind of wanted to take advantage of that."

"Yeah, yeah," Plagg said dismissively. His eyes were solely trained on the piece of cheese sitting in front of him. "I forgive you just as long as I can eat this." Adrien smiled and nodded and the black cat kwami shot forward and grabbed onto the piece of cheese. Once Adrien let go he fell to the floor, still cuddling it before bringing the pointy end towards his mouth to take a bite. Finally having satisfied his craving, he looked up at Adrien with eyes full of worry. "I know I'm always telling you to break the rules every now and then. But do you think this is a good idea?"

"If I tell him it's a trip for school everything should be fine," Adrien pointed out. He reached out and cupped Plagg in his hands. "Besides, I deserve to have some time off, right?"

"But what about Paris?" Plagg pointed out. "What about Hawk Moth? What if he attacks while you're gone?"

"Ladybug can handle it," Adrien said; his stomach started to twist into knots. He was taking a risk of leaving everything to her. But it was like Marinette said in the middle of their joking spat, she was the one that could de-evilize the akumas, he didn't really do much in terms of catching them. It wouldn't be a big deal if he left. "She's strong and smart. Whatever comes her way she'll be able to beat Hawk Moth."

"If you say so," Plagg agreed. He opened his mouth wide and tossed the rest of the Camembert into his mouth. Closing his eyes to savor the taste, he chewed happily, causing Adrien to smile. "Mmm! Boy if this is what love feels like then you should definitely ask Marinette out."

"I don't think it works like that, Plagg."

There was a sudden knock on the door and in a panic, Adrien grabbed onto Plagg with both hands, causing the kwami to make a choking sound, and shoved him into the pocket of his sweatshirt. Turning around, he found his father opening the door to his room, looking down at him curiously. Gabriel raised an eyebrow as he removed his hand from the doorknob.

"I thought I told you not to have any friends over when I'm not here, son," Gabriel said to him.

Adrien hoped his expression of innocence looked genuine as he glanced around the room. "I haven't had anyone in my room, father," he said. "Honest." Sweat started to collect at his neck, rolling down his back. He hoped his father didn't notice his sudden change in demeanor. "You told me I'm not allowed to."

"So who were you just talking to?" Gabriel pressed.

Adrien could feel Plagg moving against his hands and he squeezed harder, hoping that his kwami, who had lived for over 5,000 years, wasn't able to suffer from suffocation. "I wasn't talking to anyone father. No one's here."

"Yes, well…" Gabriel's grey eyes shifted around the room once more. Once he didn't find anyone in the room that would have proven him wrong, he turned his gaze back to his son. "Your Aunt Melinda has given me a call to tell me that you and your friends have decided to travel to Lyon for the weekend. A sort of mini-vacation of sorts." He moved his hands behind his back, staring down at him. "I would have hoped you'd bring it up to me yourself."

"Oh." Adrien's blood ran cold. "Well, we had only just decided about it and there wasn't enough time to tell you." He glanced around at his bag and turned back to Gabriel. "I was just packing some things." He started to speak quickly, stammering. "B-but if you d-don't want me to g-go that's fine. I can just—"

"As a matter of fact I think it's a great idea," Gabriel interrupted.

Adrien blinked in surprise, tilting his head to the side. "Y-you do?" He had expected to get hit or punched or kicked. As a matter of fact his muscles already steeled themselves for it, so much so that his head started to throb and his back ached. It would take forever for his body to relax. "Really?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I was planning on taking some time away from my work to get a new perspective on things," Gabriel agreed. "Not only have I not been to Lyon in a long time, but it has been a while since I've seen my sister-in-law. I think the time spent would be good for the both of us." He looked down for a moment then back at Adrien once more. His eyebrow cocked upwards. "I don't believe it will be a problem."

Adrien tried not to let his gulp be audible. He knew what that meant. He had to be careful.

"No, it won't be a problem at all," Adrien replied.

"Good."

With that, Gabriel turned on his heel and left the room, closing the door behind him. Once he was sure they were alone, Adrien pulled his hands out from his sweatshirt pocket and let go of Plagg, who took in a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Plagg," he apologized. "You know I couldn't let him see you."

"But did you have to choke me?" Plagg rubbed the back of his neck. Then he got a good look at Adrien's face and his own attitude wilted into one of concern. He flew over to his Adrien and in a rare show of compassion, gently rubbed his cheek against his before moving into the hood of Adrien's shirt.

"I guess I'm more like my Dad than I thought," Adrien muttered.

* * *

Cassie sighed, lowering her phone from her ear, her father's nasty words ringing in her ears. She shook her head, lowering her gaze to the floor as she went to her room. He never used to be so nasty, but now that he and her mother were getting a divorce he was doing nothing short of taking his anger and frustration out on her. It was bad enough she was being pulled back and forth as her parents tried to figure out who she was going to live with, but they weren't listening to what she wanted. She was going to graduate soon and leave anyway, why did it matter if her mother or father got her?

"Come on Cassie, cheer up," Fangg said, appearing at her side. He rested on her shoulder and gently licked her jaw. "It's not that bad. Besides, your Dad is all the way over in America, he can't get to you here."

"He wouldn't be able to if it wasn't for this," Cassie pointed out, waving her phone. Shoving it into her pocket she went into her room, closing the door behind her and flopping down on her bed. "I could block him but you know he'd just find another way to get to me…and yell at me…and call me such foul names." She shook her head, trying not to let the words 'bitch', 'whore', and 'worthless' out of her head. She could handle them if they were direct towards her, but not towards her mother. "Anyway, being out in Lyon may make things easier. I can hang out with Adrien and my new friends. And it'd give me a way to think about how to get rid of Cat Noir."

"Gotcha," Fangg agreed. He bounced onto the bed in front of her, curling up into a ball, tail resting over his paws. "Like I said before I think you could do it. Every other Wolfsbane has failed the destiny that has been put in place of them."

"You've never told me why Wolfsbane has always been against Cat Noir," Cassie pointed out. "Or Ladybug by extension."

Fangg tilted his head to the side. "It's been that way for a long time. Ever since Cat Noir had betrayed Wolfsbane in battle. They used to be partners but then Cat Noir betrayed Wolfsbane. It's their destiny to continue fighting against each other until one of them falls. You can't break destiny. So far all of the other Wolfsbanes managed to fall with Cat Noir getting the upper hand."

"That must've been really bad then," Cassie pointed out. She rested her chin in her hands and closed her eyes, thinking about the times she had donned the Wolfsbane mantle and tried to find Cat Noir. Ever since she had come into contact with the Miraculous broach and took on the mantle of Wolfsbane she felt nothing but intense hatred for him. Whoever he was. And that hatred increased ten-fold when she transformed into Wolfsbane as well. It was nothing short of a miracle when her mother explained they were going to go back to Lyon for her work. That would move her closer to Cat Noir and one step closer to being able to take him down.

Now if only Hawk Moth and Ladybug weren't always in the way.

"It was the worst betrayal ever seen," Fangg agreed with a nod. He shook his head. "I can't even see the kwami, Plagg, without wanting to tear his eyes out." Fangg's blue eyes narrowed into slits and his sharp teeth gleamed as he bared them. Then he shook his head and stood up, trotting over to Cassie once more. "But we're not thinking about that, now Cass. Right now we're supposed to be thinking about the trip to Lyon. We're going to have a good time, alright?"

Cassie giggled and reached out, cupping her wolf kwami in her hands. "Right," she agreed. "We're going to have a great time." She gently nuzzled her kwami then let him go, stretching her arms out in front of her, frowning. "I just hope Dad doesn't do anything to ruin it."

"Just forget about him, Cassie. And focus on the fun you're going to have."

"I should probably think about my homework."

"That, too."

Cassie laughed and ran her finger over her kwami's fur before curling up into a ball, listening as her cell phone rang over and over again.

* * *

"Wow, this place is awesome!"

"Look at the beautiful garden!"

"I can't believe we're going to be staying here for the weekend!"

Adrien tried to get as excited as his friends were once they arrived at Cassie's mother's house, but found that he couldn't do so when his father was around. Even as Gabriel sat in the back of the limo, phone to his ear and barking orders to whomever was on the other end—most likely Nathalie—he couldn't shake the feeling of his father's eyes on him. Even when Gabriel wasn't turned his way, Adrien's skin crawled, afraid to look just in case.

"Relax, man," Nino said, putting his arm around Adrien's shoulder and gently shook him. "Your father's so busy he's not going to notice we're not around much. Besides, there's so much to see around here."

"Let's hope it stays that way," Adrien agreed. He watched as Cassie hurried up the front steps of the house and used her key to unlock the door, ushering everyone inside. "Uncle Gabriel, are you coming?" She called to him. Gabriel waved a hand her way and turned back to his phone, his barking increasing in volume. Instinctively, Adrien's shoulders hunched up to his ears and he quickly moved inside, following his friends, only relaxing once the door was closed, cutting him off from his father. " _Maman! Je suis rentrée!"_ She turned and smiled as a door closed somewhere in the house and footsteps headed her way.

Melinda Price walked into the foyer and immediately enveloped her daughter in a hug. "Hi sweetie, how was school this week?"

"It was fine, Mom," Cassie replied. She turned and motioned to the others. "These are my friends." She introduced Alya, Marinette, and Nino and when she came to Adrien, Melinda went over to him and swept him up in a hug as well.

He had to fight every urge in his body to push her way, his natural flight reaction when faced with fight or flight. But then he felt her gently rubbing his back and relaxed, hugging his aunt in turn. "Oh, Adrien. It's been so long since I've seen you. Of course you've grown so much, I almost didn't recognize you."

"It's great to see you, too, Aunt Melinda," Adrien replied. He pulled back and grinned up at his Aunt. "It really has been a long time."

"So where's your father?"

"He's finishing up some work in the limo before he comes in," Adrien explained.

"You have a lovely house, Mrs. Price," Marinette added. She beamed. "I especially liked the roses you have out front. They're so bright and beautiful."

"Thank you, Marinette," Melinda replied, blushing at the complement. "That means a lot." She clasped her hands together. "I planted them myself. It took a bit of trial and error; those things didn't seem to want to grow for a while. I guess it's harder to have a garden in New York than here."

"You should've seen our garbage cans back there," Cassie added with a laugh. "The trash men thought we were trying to send a message to them or something."

Melinda smiled and ran her hand through Cassie's hair. "Well, I'm sure you guys are a bit tired from your travels. Cassie, why don't you show them where they're all going to be staying and I'll get some food ready for you all."

"Thanks, Mom."

Adrien shouldered his bag and waited as his friends gathered at the stairs to go up. He bumped into Marinette and smiled at her, taking a step back. His mind shot back to the conversation he and Nino had the day before and he felt himself starting to stare. Yes, he really did like Marinette, but still wasn't sure if he should say anything. He had wanted to, so badly, when they traveled to Lyon by train that morning. He had breathed a sigh of relief when his father had insisted on taking the limo, saying he had work to do and didn't want to be disturbed. Hearing that lifted Adrien's mood immensely, so much so that Alya, Marinette, Nino, and Cassie all noticed.

"Wow, Adrien, you look like you just won the lottery," Alya commented once he arrived at the train station. She slowly smiled, tapping a pen—that she had produced out of nowhere—on her chin. "Something you can share with the blog? A new modeling contract, maybe?"

"No, nothing like that," Adrien replied. It wasn't even that thanks to his powers from Cat Noir his healing had made his bruises go away. He shrugged. "I'm just happy."

"Good," Marinette replied. She gave a sweet smile. "You should smile more often." Startled, Adrien glanced at her then smiled warmly. She seemed to realize what she had said for her eyes widened and she slapped her hands over her mouth. "I mean, well, I guess—"

"—Maybe we should get on the train," Cassie interrupted. She shot Adrien a look that he recognized to know she was up to something, and passed out the tickets for each of them. They pushed their way through the crowd and got onto the train. Cassie immediately grabbed Alya's and Nino's arm and pushed their way onto a three person seat. "Oh, look. Looks like Adrien and Marinette are going to have to sit together," she said non-convincingly.

Adrien glared at his cousin and she smiled innocently in reply.

"Oh that's alright," Marinette said, pointing. "There're seats right here, we can still talk to our friends." Adrien looked over and noticed she was right. There was a seat across from them for two people. They could have a private conversation or talk to their friends if they wanted. And did they take advantage of it. Throughout the nearly two hour trip the two took pictures of each other and their friends, talking about anything and everything. For the first time in a long time Adrien felt that he was finally able to be himself. Of course it managed to come crashing down once they got off the train and met his father's limo for the rest of the ride to the house, but it was fun.

A lot of fun.

Adrien found that he couldn't stop looking at Marinette for most of the ride.

And now he stared at her as she took the spot in front of her and went up the stairs, following Cassie to the room she and Alya were going to share. "Ade," Cassie called to him. "Your room is the same one you always use. You and Nino are going to share."

"Okay, thanks," Adrien called back. He grabbed onto Nino's arm and dragged him into their room. As soon as the door was closed, he turned to Nino and held up a finger, glaring at him. "Don't say anything." He growled.

Nino held his hands up defensively. "I wasn't going to say anything, dude," he defended himself. But then he grinned and crossed his arms. "But you and Marinette really did look cozy on the train ride over here. You looked like you were having a good time."

"We did," Adrien admitted.

"So what's the problem?"

A heavy sigh escaped Adrien's lips. Gabriel. Gabriel was always the problem and would always be the problem. When he was around, Adrien couldn't focus on anything but staying out of his way. But when he was with Marinette…he tried so hard to hide his feelings for her but it was starting to kill him. Hanging out with her through that whole train ride he had to smother the urge to hold her hand, or brush her hair form her face…even to make her laugh. Seeing her smile so much was starting to become painful, only because he loved to see her smile.

When Adrien didn't come up with a response, Nino patted him on the shoulder. "Your father seems plenty busy even though he said he'd leave his work behind. I'm just saying you should take advantage of the situation."

Adrien made a noncommittal sound and the two unpacked their things. They left their room just as Cassie came by to tell them that her mother had finished setting out some food for them. Leaving the room, Adrien nearly bumped into Marinette once more.

"You know, I'm starting to think I'm taking your clumsiness from you," Adrien joked once he found his voice.

Marinette laughed, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. "You might want to use the handrail when you're going downstairs then. We don't want you to slip and fall."

"Nah, cats always land on their feet," Adrien replied, then bit his lower lip, realizing his mistake.

But Marinette seemed not to notice. She just laughed again, placing her hands on her hips. "That's right; you're on Team Cat Noir, thinking he's better than Ladybug."

"Well someone has to," Adrien joked back. Though he wasn't so sure of his own abilities at the moment. But that was beside the point. Nino was right. They were on vacation; they were supposed to have fun. He had to stop worrying about everything. And as he found himself staring into Marinette's bright blue eyes all his worries went away. _How's she able to do that?_

"Adrien?" Marinette dropped her hands from her hips, staring at him in concern. She tilted her head to the side, pigtails dusting her shoulders. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah…" Adrien blinked. Swallowed. Licked his lips. "Yeah, everything's fine." He reached out a hand and brushed her hair from her eyes and leaned in. Marinette started to say his name again, her lips parting just for a second.

Adrien leaned in and pressed his lips against Marinette's in a sweet kiss.

* * *

 **A/N:** Just in time for Valentine's Day, huh?

 **Cheers,**

 **-Riles**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

Marinette was on cloud nine. And if there were anything higher than Cloud 9 she would've been floating on that cloud. Did 7th heaven count as being higher than cloud 9? She had to look into that later. Either way, Marinette was pretty sure her feet didn't touch the ground at all that day as she and her friends went sightseeing around Lyon. Was that even possible? Maybe it was her Ladybug powers taking over her body more and more each day. Or…maybe it was that Adrien had finally kissed her? And she had kissed him back! And, wow, what a kiss it was! It was so much better than she thought, so much better than all of her dreams and fantasies.

Okay, maybe not _that_ great. She had been surprised when Adrien suddenly kissed her. For the first few seconds she stood pressed against the wall behind her, eyes wide in surprise, then going cross as she took in Adrien's face so close to hers. Then she focused in on the way his lips felt against hers, gently pressed against them and everything came into focus. Stunningly clear focus and she was suddenly hyper aware of everything.

What was she supposed to do with her hands? Was she supposed to run them through his hair, put them on his cheeks, his shoulders, his arms, on top of his hands? And her breathing? Was she supposed to kiss him back? _Yes, idiot! Kiss him back!_ Marinette reminded herself. She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath through her nose. She felt Adrien pull back slightly, so that he could catch his breath then took a step forward, cupping her face in his hands, kissing her again and this time Marinette kissed him back and butterflies exploded in her stomach, her face felt flush, her knees felt weak, and an overwhelming sense of happiness hit her at once.

Marinette kissed him back, shyly at first, clumsy at figuring out how her lips were supposed to move against his. Then it was like they were on the same page, the same wavelength…the same understanding and her hands were in his hair and his hands were on her hips, pulling her closer to him. Marinette was lost in the kiss, her heart hammering against her ribs, which made the rest of her body quake—or maybe that was her nerves or her excitement over her dreams finally coming true. There was a loud burst of laughter from downstairs that caused the two to jerk apart in surprise. Marinette peered up at Adrien through her bangs as he turned around, leaning over the railing of the stairwell, checking if anyone was coming to find them.

Not for the first time Marinette was glad Alya hadn't come to find her, her snooping trait wielding its ugly head. For once she was going to be able to talk with Adrien and lay it all on the line how she felt about him. And it seemed like he felt the same way. She watched as Adrien turned away from the railing and looked back at her. His hand instinctively went to the mouth and their eyes met, an awkward chuckle slipping between the two of them.

"I, uh," Adrien said. He reached up a hand and ran it through his hair, leaving his hair tousled in a way that Marinette loved. He didn't typically leave his hair up or uncoifed in some way, typically keeping himself as put together as possible. "I don't know what to say," he said honestly then blurted out, "I'm sorry I jumped you."

"What?" Marinette's head jerked back in confusion. Jumped her? He didn't jump her. Okay, now she was thinking about it. And thinking of how she would respond and how…okay, Marinette didn't need those thoughts at the moment. She needed to focus on the topic at hand. "No. It's okay. I mean!" She started to wave her hands. "It's not that I didn't like…okay, what I mean is…" Marinette tilted her head back. "I don't think I'm being very clear," she said.

"No, it's okay," Adrien said. "I think I should be the one apologizing."

 _What?_ Now Marinette tilted her head to the side, eyebrows lowering. _Is he apologizing for the kiss? Did I not do it well? Does he think I'm a bad kisser? Or maybe my breath stinks? Oh god, my breath stinks doesn't it?_ Marinette resisted the urge to lift her hand so she could check her breath as she looked at Adrien. He realized the connotation of what he had just said and brought his hands up.

"No. I don't want to apologize I just—"He slapped his hands over his face. "I guess I'm not being very clear, either." He sat down on the steps and Marinette sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around her knees. "What I want to apologize about is if I caught you off guard by kissing you," he said. "I don't want to apologize for the kiss. That was…kind of nice."

"Oh." Now Marinette started to smile a little. "Well, that's good. I liked…I thought it was nice too." She cleared her threat, hugging her legs tighter, twisting her fingers together. "But, uh, I mean…I didn't think you thought that much of me," she said. "I mean, you never really seemed that interested in dating anyone."

A light chuckle escaped Adrien's lips as he tilted his head to the side. "Yes, well, there are some things in my life that I like to keep private. And in that case there aren't many people that would be…comfortable with the way I live. So I needed to find someone that could handle it."

 _Oh._ "So you like me because I can deal with your family life?" She asked. Though she had to admit that it was a bit off putting at first. She had never seen so many maids and butlers that rushed to help someone take off their backpack as soon as they moved through the front door. Nor had she seen someone as stoic as his father's assistant, Nathalie, as she asked what they were planning on doing that day. But then things had calmed down around them and Nathalie had gone back to wherever she came from and she got used to it.

"Well, that's part of it," Adrien admitted. "But you're also smart, nice, and fun to be around, you listen to people, you're always trying to help others, and you always see the good in people." He paused for a minute. "Okay, maybe not _everyone_ but for the most part you can." Marinette giggled lightly, knowing that he was referring to the girl in school that managed to like Adrien as much as she disliked Marinette. "I know I never said much before, Marinette but—"

"—Adrien?"

Startled, Adrien and Marinette looked up to find Gabriel standing on the stairs, trying to make his way up. He looked back and forth between his son and Marinette, gray eyes narrowing after a moment. Adrien seemed to shrink in on himself before he shakily stood up. "Y-yes, father?" He asked.

Marinette looked over at him, noticing his sudden change in demeanor. He had been doing it a lot since Gabriel had decided to travel with them. Marinette then noticed Gabriel's glare turned her way and knew she had to make her escape down to eat with everyone else, but not before she heard the rumblings of the harsh, low tone that Gabriel sent his son's way.

And that had been hours ago.

As it was, she and Alya were currently laden down with shopping bags with Cassie at their side, directing them where to go. "Oh and then you have to go into this store!" Cassie grabbed their arms and dragged them into a small boutique. "They have the best smelling perfumes. _Mon Dieu_ , I swear!"

The shopkeeper smiled as she stood behind the cash register. "Welcome. I hope you find everything to your liking. Please let me know if there's anything I can help you with." The shop keeper lifted her hand and smiled at the butterfly that landed on her fingers.

"Merci," Cassie said to the shop keeper. She turned to the closest perfume bottle to her; a translucent bottle with fairy wings and bright pink liquid inside. She picked it up and sprayed the air with it. "Like this one?" She held it out to the two girls. "It's China Jade."

Alya leaned forward and sniffed the perfume. "Mmm, that smells great." Smirking over at Marinette, she elbowed her in the side. "Maybe Adrien will buy that for Marinette."

"Why would he do that?" Cassie asked with a snort. "If anyone knows Ade, they know he can be really stingy with his money."

"He's not stingy," Marinette said dreamily, her voice coming out as light as a feather. "He's just saving his money. Besides," she practically spun through the boutique. "His father only lets him spend so much money a month."

"Okayyy," Cassie said slowly, tilting her head to the side. "What's up with her?"

"Oh, didn't you know?" Alya raised an eyebrow. "Adrien and Marinette kissed."

Cassie's green eyes widened with surprise and then grinned. "Really? He finally did it?" She placed her hands on her hips. "I was wondering when he would get the balls to do it! I mean, just looking at you two together was like sucking on a mouthful of candy, too sweet."

Alya rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "Tell me about it; I've been trying to get the two of them together for ages and _now_ they decide to do it? Talk about good timing. If I knew it would've happened once they got away from school and everything I would've asked you to come to Paris sooner."

Cassie smiled and shrugged, walking to the other side of the boutique. "Blame my Dad. If he were a good person at all then we wouldn't be here." Her eyes widened and she turned to the other two with a nervous laugh. "You know how it is, sometimes parents need time apart, right?"

Alya nodded and turned back to Marinette, who was now looking through her phone. They said they were going to meet up with the boys later, after Adrien showed Nino around some of the stores that didn't have any overly feminine products they became uncomfortable around. She thought he would have texted her, but he had been a little quiet after his conversation with his father. Lately he seemed even more sullen than usual when after dealing with Gabriel but usually bounced back. This time around when they were on the way into the city he kept his head turned to look out the window, muttering a 'yes' or 'no' whenever he was asked a question when not giving a noncommittal shrug. He had even snapped at Cassie for asking him questions about the city and the memories they had created while there.

And he didn't put up a big fight when they split up to check out the city. She was really starting to get worried about him. What was it that could have gotten him so upset lately? It wasn't his birthday and it wasn't the anniversary that his mother disappeared. So what was it? Whatever it was, his father definitely had something to do with it.

"Marinette, c'mon, we have to get going," Alya said, tugging her arm. She took one look at her face and shook her head. "What is it now? A second ago you were smiling like a lunatic?"

"You mean like how you and Nino always smile at each other?" Marinette teased in reply. Alya's dark cheeks reddened as she lifted her finger, shaking it back and forth. "I know, I know, we're talking about me. Anyway, have you noticed anything going on with Adrien lately?"

"What do you mean?" Cassie placed her hands on her hips, watching her intently.

"Nothing, just that his father…your uncle…" Marinette trailed off, unsure of how to explain it. "It's just that ever since we started to figure out our project and everything he's acted weird once his Dad came around. Didn't you notice he was quiet during lunch?"

"Yeah, my Mom was asking about it, too," Cassie agreed. "She and Adrien were as close as he and I were and he wasn't really answering any of her questions." She rubbed her chin an odd expression coming to her face. Then she shook her head and dropped her hand once more. "I can talk to him if you want."

"There's no talking to that guy when he gets angry," Alya pointed out. "Didn't you notice the way he was snapping at us all afternoon? It was like he wanted to get away from his Dad but didn't want to be around us, either."

"I'll get to the bottom of it," Marinette said. She put her phone back into her pocket. "I'm sure everything's fine." She looked at the perfume bottle once more, trying to decide whether or not she wanted to buy it. It rally was a beautiful smell and the bottle it came in was beautiful as well. She picked it up in her hand and started to turn it back and forth in her hands.

"Are you going to buy that or what?" Startled, Marinette turned around to find Adrien standing behind her, his hands shoved into the pockets of his sweatshirt. When he caught her gaze his eyes shifted away from her. "Dad called. We have to get back to the house."

"No problem." Marinette replaced the bottle and turned to Adrien as they started to leave the store. "So, uh, Adrien, we never got to finish the conversation that we were having earlier today," she said slowly. Adrien looked at her out of the corner of her eye. "You know, when your father came and, uh, interrupted us?" Thinking back to it, she could feel herself starting to blush. How much of that conversation had he heard anyway? The only thing that would've been worse would have been if he had seen them kissing and as it was, no one else seemed to have seen it.

Though Alya had wanted to get all of the information as soon as she told her. But that was what girls did when they finally managed to kiss their crushes. Besides, Marinette had to stop herself from yelling it from the rooftops somehow.

"Oh, right." Adrien reached up and pulled his hood over his heat. "That." But he didn't elaborate any further.

Marinette felt her stomach drop a little bit. "Okay, we don't need to talk about that," she said quickly, not sure if she was ready to have that conversation herself. She could barely wrap her head around that herself. "But, uh, is everything okay with you and your father?"

Now Adrien's head whipped upwards, blowing his hair form his face, giving Marinette a perfect view of a new bruise forming on his face. "Adrien…" Marinette reached out to touch the bruise and Adrien roughly pushed her hand away, as if scalded by the mere idea of being touched. "Adrien, what's going on? Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine, Marinette," Adrien snapped back. He looked up; checking to make sure that his friends weren't in hearing distance. "God, can't you just leave things alone every now and then? You always have to butt into other people's business!"

Marinette stopped walking, her lower jaw dropping open in surprise and hurt. "Adrien…"

"Can't you just leave things alone?" Adrien continued as if she didn't say anything. "The world doesn't freaking revolve around you, you know?"

"Adrien," Marinette said slowly. "I don't know what's going on, but you're acting really weird. You weren't like this earlier today. If something's going on, you can tell me." Finally she stepped forward and grabbed onto his wrist. "I won't tell anyone. I promise. You can trust me."

"Really?" Adrien's eyebrows rose. "I can trust you? _You?_ "A light snort escaped his lips. "Why would I want to do that? I don't even know why I agreed to come out here to work on that stupid project. Especially knowing I was going to have to spend the time with you."

Marinette took in a deep breath and when she let it out, it trembled along with her lower jaw. She could feel her eyes start to well up with tears, her stomach forming into knots. Her hands shook and a feeling like she had just been doused with cold water. Why was he doing this?

"Look, just forget it, alright?!" Adrien snapped, throwing her hand off him. Marinette gasped in surprise, stung. She looked up at him as he turned to her, glaring as hard as he could, looking at her with such utter disgust that she had to take a step back. What was going on? "If you know what's good for you, you'll leave me alone."

With that, he turned on his heel and walked away from Marinette.

She stared after him, crushed, lower jaw dropping. "What just happened?" She whispered. They were the only words she managed to get out of her mouth. Tikki suddenly appeared at her side, appearing as crushed as Marinette was before. "Tikki…"

"I'm sorry, Marinette," Tikki said to her. "I don't get it. Adrien is usually so nice to you."

"I know," Marinette agreed. She ran a shaky hand through her hair. "I just…I don't…" then she realized Tikki was at her side and her eyes widened. "Tikki, you can't be here!" She cried. "What if someone sees you?"

"That's not important, Marinette," Tikki pointed out. "You're hurting and I need to be here for you." Marinette looked around to be sure no one was watching them. It didn't look like her friends had noticed she was gone, and Tikki was hiding close to her, close enough so no one would notice if she was talking to herself. "But I agree with you, Marinette. It looks like there's something really wrong with him."

"I know," Marinette agreed. "Maybe." She was cut off as there was a sudden explosion, knocking her off her feet. She fell onto the ground, arms out stretched in front of her and rolled over to find the shopkeeper had been turned into an akuma. She _thought_ she had seen a butterfly in the shop, but what would Hawk Moth be doing all the way out there. "Looks like we don't have a lot of time to figure out," she muttered to herself. She glanced down the street at her friends and saw they were already moving to find shelter. "Looks like we're on, Tikki," she said to her kwami, ducking beside the storefront. "Tikki, spots on!"

Marinette transformed into Ladybug and shot out into the street. The shopkeeper turned to her and glared, throwing a perfume bottle towards her. Instead of the bottle erupting into a wonderful scent, it blew up, a crater in the ground when the smoke cleared. Ladybug jumped backwards as another bomb came her way and she leapt forward, immediately breaking into combat with the shopkeeper. She blocked every punch and kick that came her way until she miscalculated and was kicked in the chest, stumbling backwards.

All of a sudden she stopped falling and looked up to find Cat Noir holding onto her arms, keeping her up. "I always knew you would fall for me one day, My Lady," he said to her.

"Cat Noir!" Ladybug looked at him in surprise. "What are you doing here?" She pulled herself up to her feet. "Why aren't you back in Paris?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Cat Noir replied, stretching out his hands and cracking his knuckles. "But it seems to me that you can't stay away from me for too long. Our fates as intertwined."

"Right," Ladybug agreed. She turned back just as another perfume bottle came their way. "Look out!" She shoved Cat Noir hard in the chest and the two fell out of the way of the bottle. It crashed to the ground and created another crater. "Let's get back to the topic at hand."

'Right," Cat Noir agreed, getting to his feet. "What does Hawk Moth want this with akumatized monster? Apart from taking away our Miraculouses. But why would he want to come out to Lyon to do that?"

Marinette thought for a moment, rubbing her chin. She had no idea. Not unless Hawk Moth somehow knew where she and Cat Noir were at all times. But how was that possible? He had never shown his face to them before nor had he proven that he had a way to know every place they were going to be. He didn't know their identities just as they didn't know his. So what was going on? There didn't appear to be any other attacks going on.

Ladybug and Cat Noir looked over and jumped backwards at the same time, blocking out the other attack that came their way. "Looks like we don't have a lot of time to figure it out, My Lady," Cat Noir reminded her. "Do you have any idea where the akuma might be?"

Ladybug looked over her outfit and noticed the satchel that sat around her waist, probably to hold loose coins and receipts. Her mind was jumbled with so many things to pay too close attention; Adrien, Hawk Moth, being found in Lyon…there was too much to think about let alone to deal with in terms of fighting akumatized monsters.

"Who knows," she said with a hostile edge to her tone. "Let's get this over with, alright?"

Cat Noir pulled his staff out from behind his back and clicked it to extension. "As you wish." He charged towards the shopkeeper and Ladybug brought up the rear. The fight against the akuma wasn't difficult at all, the shopkeeper had been defeated and the akuma released with relative ease, even by Ladybug's and Cat Noir's standards.

 _Why would he be here?"_ Ladybug thought as she crouched down on the rooftop, watching the city streets below. She had used her Lucky Charm power to restore everything and was now waiting to see if there was any sign of Hawk Moth or anything else that would give them a clue as to what he wanted. _How did he know we were going to be? How did he know that we would be out here? More importantly, why was Cat Noir out here? He couldn't have been following me. He should've been back in Paris, dealing with the akumas there._

"You know, I thought things were going to be a bit harder," Cat Noir stated, twirling his metal pole in his hand. "Hawk Moth must really be losing his touch. Either that or he's realized he can't beat the two of us." His canines glistened as he motioned towards himself. "Good news," he added when Ladybug didn't respond. "Looks like Wolfsbane didn't show up, either."

"Yeah, well, it looks like Hawk Moth decided to follow us all the way out here," Ladybug commented, placing her hands on her hips. Though she still wasn't entirely sure he knew how they would be there. "So much for that vacation."

"Oh, you're here on vacation, too?" Cat Noir asked. He looked at her with a warm smile, putting his arm around her. "So what do you say we do some sight-seeing for ourselves?" He asked suggestively. "We can see what Lyon really has to offer to a couple of superheroes." He winked at her. "Emphasis on the couple."

 _Couple._ Just what she thought she and Adrien were going to be that day, after he kissed her. But then he had suddenly turned around and was so…so mean to her. So cruel. So embarrassing. Tears came to Marinette's eyes once more and she turned away from Cat Noir, pushing his arm off her shoulder. "Whatever," she said to him.

Tilting his head to the side, Cat Noir crossed his arms over his chest. "Is everything okay, My Lady?"

 _My Lady…_

He said it with such sincerity; just the same way that Adrien had spoken to her that morning.

 _I don't want to apologize for the kiss. That was…kind of nice_

No. No. She had to stop thinking about it.

It was hurting her more and more.

Ladybug took a step back away from Cat Noir, slowly shaking her head. His head tilted to the side even further, eyebrows coming together as he watched her. "I…I have to go," She said, taking another step back. "I can't…I…" She turned her back to him.

"Wait, Ladybug," Cat Noir stretched his hand out towards her. "Did someone hurt you?"

That was it. She couldn't stand it anymore. Marinette looked up and saw Adrien staring at her with such concern, a stark contrast from the way Adrien had looked at her earlier that day, with so much contempt. "Leave me alone!" She slapped Cat Noir's hand away and turned, spinning her yo-yo over her head. Throwing it, it caught on a nearby tree and she flung herself away from Cat Noir as quickly as she could.

Tears streamed down Marinette's cheeks as she raced back to the house. She landed on the ground behind the house and transformed back. Her sadness combined with the sudden loss of power made her crumple to her knees. Marinette brought her hands up to cover her face and sobbed. Tikki flew by Marinette's head, trying to get a good look at her face.

"Don't worry, Marinette," Tikki said, gently rubbing her head. Her hand was light as a feather, comforting in all situations but this one. "It's not that bad."

"I don't know what I did wrong, Tikki," Marinette whispered. "I don't know what I did to make him hate me so much. I don't get it." She removed her hands and wiped her tears away from her cheeks but they kept coming. "Is there something wrong with me?"

"There's nothing wrong with you, Marinette," Tikki said in a quiet voice, her face screwed up in consolidation for her friend. Tikki really did look as sad as Marinette felt. "I promise."

"Then why did he tell me to stay away from him?"

"I don't know."

Marinette sniffed and started to cry again.

* * *

"Well, well, well," Gabriel murmured, bringing his head back in through the window as Marinette continued to cry in the backyard. "It seems that I have a bit of an insect infestation on my hands. If only I knew Ladybug was so close to me this entire time." He ran a hand over his goatee. The akuma monster he had sent out that day had just been to get an idea of how far Cat Noir and Ladybug would go to stop him. He hadn't realized they actually would travel all the way to Lyon to do so. And here was Ladybug right under his nose. "No matter, I can still use this to my advantage."

* * *

 **A/N:** Try not to hate me too much?

 **Cheers,**

 **-Riles**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

Adrien drummed his hands along his thighs, staring at the wall straight ahead of him. Glared would be the better word, he couldn't keep himself from feeling anything but anger. Anger at himself, anger at his father, anger at everything. He wanted to do nothing more but allow himself to break through his emotions, to scream, to yell, to cry, but he couldn't. Not when everyone else was around. He had to distance himself from them.

He had to.

Or else his father would hurt him.

Adrien's teeth clenched as he thought about what his father had told him after interrupting his conversation with Marinette. He had watched as Marinette went downstairs and out of ear shot .Then he turned back to his father in time to catch another punch to the eye, causing Adrien to fall to the side. Adrien had the thought that his father seemed to really enjoy hitting him in the face for someone who was doing his best to keep the secret of abusing his son.

Adrien crashed onto the stairs and a low moan escaped his lips before he was kicked in the stomach. Gabriel then leaned down, grabbing his son by the hair and lifted his head up. Adrien's green eyes locked onto his gray ones and he trembled, seeing how much fiery anger was in them. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop making me angry?" Gabriel tightened his grasp in Adrien's hair. "It's like you're doing it on purpose!"

A cry escaped Adrien's lips as he felt his scalp pulled back. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"How do you think it makes me feel to know that you've skipped out on multiple photo shoots?" Gabriel hissed with such ferocity that spittle landed on the side of Adrien's face. "To know that everything that I've carefully set up for _my_ company that has _my_ name on it, for _you_ to help promote has been cancelled because of you! It makes me look like a fool!" He shoved Adrien down once more. "You're costing me my reputation."

Swallowing thickly, Adrien forced himself, painfully, to face his father. "I don't want to be a model," he finally said to his father. He watched as Gabriel's face continued to hold a stern expression as if carved out of granite. "I don't want to be the face of your fashion line. I want to be able to do what I want." He found himself spilling out everything he had kept inside as long as he could remember. "I don't want to do any of that anymore. I wasn't to go to school, I want to hang out with my friends, I want to play the piano, and fence, and maybe play some of the sports that I couldn't before because I wasn't allowed to potentially hurt myself. I want to be able to be a teenager! I want—"

"I don't give a damn what you want!" Gabriel snapped back at him.

"You don't care what _anyone_ wants!" Adrien snapped back. He pushed himself upwards, causing Gabriel to take a step back. "You don't care about anyone but yourself. It's probably why Mom's gone…" he knew he had made a mistake as soon as the words came out of his mouth. Gabriel's face slackened then reddened with rage.

" _Don't you dare bring your mother into this!"_ Gabriel spat. "You don't know what you're talking about. She has nothing to do with this. This has everything to do with you. This is about you being an ungrateful, unselfish little fucker! You can't do a single thing you're asked of. And it seems your cousin is no better; no wonder her father sent her out here."

Adrien's eyebrows furrowed together. "What…what do you mean?"

Now a sneer crossed Gabriel's face. "It must run in the family. Both of you are so disrespectful. Now her parents are getting a divorce, all because she can't take a bit of harsh words and discipline. I don't see you complaining about it, you take it like a man." Gabriel turned and started to talk to himself, muttering something about 'your mother' and 'couldn't take it' and 'wasn't a real woman'. But Adrien's mind swirled, so that was why Cassie had suddenly decided to go back to Lyon and Paris Her father was beating her, her parent were getting a divorce…Adrien suddenly had thoughts of his mother enter his head.

He hadn't allowed himself to think about her for a long time. He still wasn't entirely sure what had happened to her, why she left. If he asked his father, the topic of conversation would be changed, his relatives would all frown and turn away, his butlers and maids looking uncomfortable. Had he done the same thing to his mother? If so, why didn't' she take him? Had Gabriel threatened her so badly she felt she couldn't take Adrien with her? Tears started to well up in Adrien's eyes. He could've had a good life, he could've been living with someone that really loved him and wanted nothing more than to see him thrive. Not beat him down; physically, mentally, literally…

Adrien could feel himself starting to snarl, to glare, to shake with the strongest amount of anger and frustration he had ever felt before. He saw red. And before he knew it, he launched himself towards his father, ready to punch him, to do whatever it took to get Gabriel to shut up, to realize that he wasn't a punching bag anymore. But Gabriel out maneuvered him and grasped Adrien around the neck, shoving him against the wall of the stairwell. Adrien gasped in shock and pain and put his face close to Adrien's glaring at him.

"You do that again," Gabriel whispered. "You try to touch me again and you'll live to regret it. I'm your father, you'll respect me and you'll do as I say. You are not to skip out on anymore photo shoots; you will _not_ hang out with your friends anymore." Adrien's eyes widened, despite his best efforts to keep his face neutral. Gabriel smiled, realizing he had hit a weak spot. "I know how precious your friends are to you, especially Marinette. Am I right? That girl has been getting too close to you. And you seem to be growing fond of her as well."

Adrien took in a deep breath through his nose. "Don't you dare—"

"You're not in the position to tell me what to do," Gabriel said, tightening his grip along Adrien's neck, causing him to cough. "You keep away from your friends. They're not to get even closer than they already are. As a matter of fact, I know something about your precious Marinette that I'm sure she wouldn't want anyone else to know. It'd be a shame if something were to happen to her."

"You can't—"

"—Stay away from them. I mean it." To prove his point, Gabriel pressed harder against Adrien's neck, bringing him to the brink of passing out before letting go. Adrien fell to his knees, taking in as much air as he could in ragged gasps. He watched as Gabriel walked away from him, straightening his clothes as he if had just gone on a stroll.

That had been the day before and now Adrien was doing his best to keep from making things worse. He had already blown off Marinette the day before; he was doing his best to avoid her now. He couldn't stand to look at her. To see the pain in her eyes, knowing he had done that. He absolutely hated the way she looked at him as he snapped at her, telling her to forget about him and the kiss they shared. It was hard, harder than anything he ever had to do. Then that morning he had to do it all over again; blow her off, snap at his friends, keep Nino, Alya, and Cassie away. Pretend with his Aunt Melinda that everything was okay when all he wanted to do was strangle his father.

So he barricaded himself into his room, doing nothing more than glaring at the wall in front of him, tried to keep his hands moving, tried to find something to do, or else he would blow up. He barely looked up when Nino entered the room, closing the door behind him.

"What's going on?" Nino demanded.

"Nothing!" Adrien snapped.

"I know you, man," Nino insisted, walking over and standing next to his best friend. He clenched his hands into fists, standing above him. Without looking at him, Adrien could tell he was glaring. "I know this isn't you. I know you would never speak to Marinette like that, or avoid us like you've been doing. There's something going on."

"Nothing's going on," Adrien insisted. He started to wring his hands together. "I just don't want to be here anymore."

"So why don't you just leave?"

"I can't."

"Why can't you?"

"I just can't, okay." Adrien started to feel pressure bubbling up in his chest. He could feel his resolve breaking, the culmination of his long kept secret starting to break him down. "You know I can't, Nino. So why don't you just leave it."

"I knew it. This has to do with your father." Nino moved to Adrien's other side and he turned his head away so that he didn't have to look his best friend in the eye. He got up and started to pace the floor, like a cat stalking its prey. "What'd he do? I saw the bruising on your face, yesterday."

"I ran into…" Adrien started and trailed off. He clenched his hands into fists repeatedly, running his hands through his hair. He scrubbed his scalp with his fingers as hard as he could, then lowered them, feeling the stinging plan his father had bestowed upon him. Nino blocked his way as he continued to pace, causing Adrien to take a step back.

"What?" Nino demanded. "A door? A wall? Your father's fist? His foot?" Adrien didn't reply. He wasn't sure what to say. What _could_ he say? If he said anything it would get back to his father. And then he would be beaten again…or worse. _No. No. Don't say anything, Adrien. He'll give up. He'll stop asking about it and you won't have to worry about it anymore._

At Adrien's silence, Nino crossed his arms over his chest. "When you first told me what was going on, I promised I wasn't going to say anything," he said in a low, serious tone. As he continued to speak his words came out faster and faster causing Adrien to turn his gaze to his feet. He could hear Nino's anger and frustration in his voice. "And I've kept that promise. But you haven't kept yours. You promised that after a few months you would say something about what was going on. You _promised_ you would tell someone, call the police and you haven't. And that was a long time ago. You're constantly in pain, he's always beating you up and now you can't see your friends?"

"No," Adrien murmured.

"Why?" Nino then paused. "That's why you were so mean to Marinette. He threatened her didn't he?" Nino demanded. Adrien shook his head once more. "What then? You can't expect your father to sit there and keep you from being with your friends—"

"He threatened everyone," Adrien murmured, keeping his gaze at the floor. He could feel tears start to prick at his eyes and he forced them away. He was tired of crying. He couldn't cry anymore. Didn't _want_ to cry anymore. "He threatened me, you, Alya…M-Marinette if I told. If I didn't do what he said."

"Then you _have_ to tell someone!"

Fear surged through Adrien's body and he felt himself starting to shake from a mixture of fear and anger. "No!" He lifted his gaze and looked at Nino with despair. "I _can't_! If I tell someone he'll do something. I know he would. He has that power, he knows a lot of people…" he took a deep breath, giving a weak smile. "I can handle it," he said in a calmer tone. "I promise."

"You can't promise that, Adrien," Nino said slowly.

 _Okay, don't panic,_ Adrien thought, frowning. _He's trying to help you. He's just trying to help. But you can't let him do that. He's your best friend; you can't let anything happen to him._ "I know, but I'm doing what I can. I know what I'm doing. I'm just trying to keep him from getting mad. I can't…I don't…" he blew out a long breath, moving his bangs off his forehead. "You're my best friend; I told you everything that's been going on with my father because I trust you. And you've been helping me since I told you. I want to thank you for that."

"You'd fucking thank me better if you would tell someone," Nino practically yelled.

Adrien shushed him, waving a hand. Nino froze, eyes widening as the two turned their attention to the door to their room. Adrien was sure he had heard footsteps out the door, coming towards them, and his hair stood on end. The same thing happened every time his father came near. After a few minutes with no sounds coming close to or away from the door they relaxed.

Taking a deep breath, Adrien turned back to Nino, staring hard at him. He had to make him understand. "Nino, look, I—"He was cut off by a sudden commotion coming on from downstairs. Nino and Adrien looked at each other and hurried down to the living room where everyone was gathered around a TV. Adrien glanced around and relaxed, seeing his father wasn't there. His Aunt Melinda noticed his gaze and she said, "Your father said he had some work that he had to do. He took the limo into town."

"Shh!" Alya whispered, her eyes glued to the screen.

"What's going on?" Nino moved to his girlfriend's side to get a better look at the TV screen. As he moved, Adrien found himself eye to eye with Marinette. He opened his mouth to say something and then closed his mouth once more. She continued to look at him and turned away, lowering her head.

His heart hurt.

She looked so sad.

Then he turned his attention to the TV and his mouth dropped open as he spotted the news headline, running along the bottom of the screen: _Paris under Attack._ Adrien took a step closer and it was like all of the sound finally reached his ears. "Again for those who are just tuning in; Paris is under attack from monsters sent down by Hawk Moth. Unlike the other monsters that have been sent through the city in the years before, taken down by Ladybug and Cat Noir, there is an invasion of monsters coming in through the city. There doesn't appear to be an end in sight. If you are out you need to get to safety immediately. Paris has been declared to be in a state of emergency—"

"Oh my God," Adrien whispered.

First his father, and now this.

And yet he was stuck in Lyon with no way to get out.

"That's what that was." Adrien nearly jumped as Plagg whispered in his ear. "That sudden akumatized monster yesterday was a distraction," Plagg explained. "Hawk Moth sent it out to keep you and Ladybug from Paris so that you couldn't stop him before he could do it."

"So what are we going to do now?" Adrien whispered back. "I can't leave…"

"Go find your father."

The perfect excuse. Adrien must have made a sound because all eyes turned his way. "I have to go!" He said. "I have to find my father. I have to…we need to…" He raced out of the living room before anyone could stop him. But as soon as he got outside he realized that the attacks weren't only going on in Paris. With his enhanced hearing from his Cat Noir abilities, he could hear screaming and sounds of destructing coming in from the city. "He's attacking Lyon, too," Adrien murmured. "He knows we're here."

"It looks like we don't have a choice but to try and take them on," Plagg said.

Adrien nodded, though deep within him he started to worry. He had seen the images on screen, people bleeding and crying, and a wall of akumatized monsters converging upon Paris. It was horrifying. If that was going on there, then Hawk Moth was doing his best to take him and Ladybug down. It must've been his plan all along.

"You're right, Plagg," Adrien declared. "Let's get going." He held out his hand. "Plagg, claws out!" He morphed into Cat Noir and leapt onto the roof of the nearby building, looking over Lyon. His heart dropped into his stomach; akumatized monsters were already coming towards the neighborhood. In the distance he could see smoke, fires burning out of control. This was much worse than he originally thought. "I have to get everyone to safety."

He flipped back down to his cousin's house and pushed the door open, hurrying inside. "Quick, everyone needs to get out of here."

"Cat Noir!" Alya cried.

"We have to get going," Cat Noir repeated. "Hawk Moth is attacking this city, too. His monsters are already on their way. You need to leave before you're captured, or worse." He held out his arm and started to wave it aside. "Come on, let's go."

"But what about Uncle Gabriel and Adrien?" Cassie asked, grabbing onto her mother's arm. Adrien watched as she turned to him and her upper lip curled as if annoyed by his presence. But he could also see in her eyes that she was more concerned about him and his father.

"We don't have a choice," Marinette said quickly, bravely. Tilting his head to the side, Adrien looked at her and found she didn't appear afraid. As a matter of fact, her eyes blazed with courage. "We need to get to safety and if Cat Noir says something's coming this way, then we have to believe him."

"But where can we go?" Nino asked.

"We'll figure it out," Aunt Melinda said quickly, grabbing her purse and car keys. "There are a few places in town we can go. If not, we may have to travel to another city. Gabriel and Adrien can catch up, I'm sure Gabriel was already on his way back once he saw everything that was going on and caught up with Adrien."

Cat Noir nodded and led everyone outside. He looked up and immediately jumped out of the way once he saw an akumatized monster send a blast of what looked like sand his way. Getting to his feet, he found five or six monsters heading their way.

"Hurry!"

Twisting around, Cat Noir watched as Marinette ushered her friends into Aunt Melinda's waiting car. She turned back towards Cat Noir and caught his eye, the courageous fire still burning within them. For a moment, Cat Noir was struck with an odd notion, that, maybe, if she had a mask on and a red cat suit covered in black polka dots…

"Cat Noir, look out!" Marinette raced forward and leapt into him, catching him in the chest and he fell backwards onto the ground. The sand monster had sent another wave of an attack his way, while his back was turned, and she had just saved him. Crouching over him, Marinette waved her hand towards the others. "Go! Go!" Aunt Melinda nodded and leapt into the driver's seat as the others piled inside. Marinette took one last look at Cat Noir before following them and leaping into the car.

Cat Noir watched it leave before turning back in enough time to leap out of the way of an attack an insect akuma sent towards him.

"Heads up!"

Tilting his head back, Cat Noir watched as Wolfsbane landed on the ground in front of him, her scythe n hand. She twirled it around her head and started to slash towards the monsters that converged around them. Cat Noir took that as his cue to take on the others that were coming up behind him. The two continued to fight the monsters before turning the other way to aid each other. They managed to push the monsters back far enough so that they had some breathing room. Cat Noir glanced over at Wolfsbane as she fought to catch her breath.

"Why…?" He asked. He had expected her to immediately turn to him and snatch his Miraculous, or try to attack him hard enough to destroy him. But she turned and looked at him with a serious expression.

"Because Lyon is my home," she explained. "And saving it is much more important to me than destroying you."

Cat Noir nodded.

He understood.

Hold off on the battle until they could stop all of the akumas.

No matter how long that took.

* * *

Marinette alternated between chewing her lower lip and her nails as Adrien's aunt continued to drive away from the chaos going on behind them. Somewhere within the chaos they had managed to lose Cassie as well. She had wanted to go back and help Cat Noir protect Lyon but she couldn't. She couldn't get away without revealing her secret. And she couldn't live with herself knowing she abandoned some of her best friends as they tried to get to safety.

 _Cat Noir can handle it,_ she reminded herself. _He can hold them off until I can get there._ But still she worried. Could he handle it himself? This wasn't just a few monsters that were attacking at once, this was an entire army. In Lyon _and_ in Paris. He couldn't purify any of them, only she could. And here she was, riding in a car along with Alya and Nino, wondering how long it would be until they got to safety. Finally, they pulled off into another city and the police immediately drew them into an area that was housing those injured and was a safe place for any of those that came in. Once inside, Marinette hurried to the bathroom, pleased to find it empty.

"Tikki, what am I going to do?" She asked her kwami, who left her purse and moved in front of her. "I can't transform with all of these people around and I'm not going to be able to get out of here."

"I could cause a distraction."

With a loud gasp, Marinette whirled around to find Alya standing in the doorway to the bathroom. Marinette watched her face as Alya closed the door behind her, leaning against it to keep anyone from coming in. Her face was blank and she locked her eyes on Marinette. Marinette felt herself starting to tremble. She took a deep breath.

"Alya…" She whispered.

"Its okay, Marinette," Alya continued. She took a deep breath, pushing her hair away from her eyes. "It's okay," She repeated. "I know."

"You know?" Marinette still couldn't get her voice above a whisper. She looked over at Tikki and her kwami stared back at her, unsure about what to do or say. She was already seen, there was no point to hide. But she still seemed as shell-shocked as her ward.

"I know." Alya took a deep breath. "I know you're Ladybug."

Now Marinette found her voice. "W-w-what? I—What? No! Pshhht!" She waved her hand. "No, I'm not Ladybug. What makes you think that?" Alya's eyes shifted over to Tikki and Marinette mentally slapped herself. "Right, well. You see. My uncle from China…there are a lot of weird pets and things in China and—"

"Marinette," Tikki said. It was all she had to be said and Marinette knew the jig was up.

Shoulders slumping, Marinette lowered her head. "Okay," she said. "Okay. You're right. I'm Ladybug."

"I know," Alya repeated.

A wave of relief washed over her. She didn't have to keep up the charade anymore. She no longer had to continue to make strange disappearances, make up strange lies, and excuses that made no sense to anyone but her. No more having to lie to her best friend all the time. But…there was something that didn't make a lot of sense. "How'd you know?"

"It was pretty obvious after a while," Alya said as if she had been waiting to reveal it as well. "You and Ladybug were never in the same room, you didn't seem as enthused to talk about her as much as the rest of us were. But when you did talk about her, you praised her all the time. But then you started to slip up; there were things that y knew that only Ladybug should have known. Or vice-versa. Ladybug was always so eager to help me with my blog. You lied all the time, you were always skipping school, you freaked out whenever I was trying to figure out who Ladybug was, being the first to say it wasn't you. Even when I hadn't asked." Alya crossed her arms. "Eventually I figured it out."

Marinette's mouth dropped open. Had she really been that obvious? She thought she had been really careful with it. "Alya… I'm sorry I lied."

"Don't be," Alya said quickly. "This was something that you had to keep a secret. If anyone figured out who you were, even me, a lot of bad things could happen." She looked at the door behind her. "Like what's happening right now. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Marinette admitted. She and Tikki exchanged a glance. "There are more akumas that I've ever fought before. Than Cat Noir or I have ever fought before. But all of Paris and Lyon are being attacked, I don't know if we can stop Hawk Moth this time."

"You can do it Marinette," Tikki reassured her. "We all believe in you."

"She's right," Alya agreed. "If you need help getting out of here, Nino and I can help you." Marinette's eyebrows slammed together and Alya flushed. "Oh, yeah. Right. Nino knows about you, too. He knew just as long as I have. We were talking about Ladybug once and it just came out." Marinette nodded. "So we know that. And we also know…" Alya trailed off, shaking her head.

"Know what?" Marinette pressed.

"It doesn't matter. What matters now is that you need to go and save Paris. Save our home." She reached out and placed her hands on Marinette's shoulders. "You've done it before; I know you can do it again. I have faith in you, Ladybug."

Marinette smiled and hugged Alya before taking a step back and nodding to Tikki, who hovered by her side. "Are you ready?"

"Try and stop us," Tikki replied.

"Tikki, spots on!"

* * *

 **A/N:** So what do you guys think?

 **Cheers,**

 **-Riles**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

* * *

Wolfsbane gasped in pain as she felt herself get hit in the side with a strong attack. She went flying off her feet and crashed to the ground. Turning around, she found one of the monsters had converged upon her, a large battering ram in its hands. What kind of a monster was this one? Someone that had a bone to pick with everyone that got in its way? She flipped back to her feet and launched another attack, fighting as hard as she could.

She expected to be using this sort of power against Cat Noir; that had been the plan. To take down Cat Noir and to get back at him for all of the betrayal he had sent Wolfsbane's way for betraying her. But now she had to defend her home, her mother, everything she had ever known. If there was any way she was going to get away from her abusive father, it was going to be in Lyon. She couldn't have it be destroyed. She wouldn't let it be destroyed.

And she continued to fight, over and over again as hard as she could. Soon she found that she and Cat Noir were outnumbers. While fighting the akumas that were encircled around them, even more had come their way. She grunted as she was kicked in the stomach, stumbling backwards, then was hit from behind. Beside her, she heard Cat Noir crying out as he fell to the ground as well. Looking over at him, Cassie brought her hand up to her throat. _I don't have a choice,_ she realized. "Wolf Rush!" She cried and a bright white glow came around her golden broach.

She grinned as the familiar surge of power encompassed her body. Her ears twitched as she used her enhanced hearing to listen to the monsters that came her way. She raced forward with her enhanced speed and started to blast through as many monsters as she could, knocking them left and right as more and more continued to press in upon her and Cat Noir.

"Let's see how you can handle this!" Cat Noir declared. He took out his metal pole and elongated it, started to swing it back and forth as he fought against the akuma monsters as well. He and Wolfsbane alternatively traded places as they took on the akumas that continued to come towards them wave after wave. But the circle continued to press upon them closer and closer until they were back to back, pressed upon all sides.

"Cataclysm!"

Wolfsbane could hear the desperation in Cat Noir's voice as he pulled out his special power. Leaning to the side, he started to run his hands along each of the akuma monsters, releasing darkened butterflies up into the air as he did so. Wolfsbane moved as quickly as he could ,taking down as many of the akumas as she could as well, but for everyone they took down, two more came up in its place. They continued to fight as hard as they could. The fight continued to wage on.

There was a low beeping sound and Wolfsbane cried out when she realized that her time was running out. Hearing another one, she realized that Cat Noir was running out of time as well. But the akumas continued to press in on them. Soon Wolfsbane found herself pinned directly between two akumas and getting squeezed harder and harder.

"Ugh!" She groaned. "There has to be something we can do!" She cried, feeling herself starting to get squeezed even further.

"I'm trying!" Cat Noir replied. He let out a wheezing cough as he was squeezed as well.

 _I should be enjoying this,_ Wolfsbane thought, watching as Cat Noir's face started to turn red with the lack of oxygen, blood pooling at his face. _This was what I wanted. But it's not working out the way it should be. I should be taking him down._ All of a sudden she felt her energy zap away from her and she fell to the ground, feeling a pile of akumas land on top of her.

Hearing a groan behind her, she realized the same happened to Cat Noir. It was a brief, fleeting thought seconds before an insurmountable amount of pain landed on her sides, causing her to scream in pain. All of a sudden there was a whipping sound, wind rushing by them, and the pain lessened. Coughing, Cassie sat up, realizing that she had transformed back out of being Wolfsbane. Fangg rested in her lap breathing heavily, tongue sticking out his mouth.

"Fangg, are you alright?" Cassie asked, bringing him up to her face.

"I'll be okay once I get something to eat," Fangg replied quietly, ears drooping.

"Cass?"

Cassie whipped her head to the side and gasped when she spotted Adrien starting back at her, lying on his stomach on the ground. He slowly pushed himself up onto his arms, eyes lowering to the kwami that sat in her lap. Then they rose to her face once more, widening even further as reality sank in. Cassie's gaze then turned to the tiny black figure lying on Adrien's shoulder and she realized that the tiny black creature was his own kwami, Plagg.

"Ade…" she murmured. It hit her all at once. _He has a kwami. He was never around when Cat Noir was somewhere. He was as hurt and bruised and tired…always bragging about Cat Noir in his letters…about as late as I've been…I've never seen them together…_ Cassie lowered her gaze to Plagg once more and she brought her hands up to her head, Fangg dropping to her lap once more. "No," she muttered, shaking her head. "No, no, no! No! I can't…I don't…what…"

"Cass." Adrien winced as he got to his knees. "Cass, it's…" he trailed off, struggling to deal with the realization as well.

"I can't…I didn't know," Cassie finally choked out. "If I knew..I can't…I wouldn't' have. I wouldn't have done it. If I knew it was you. I swear, Ade, I didn't know!" She watched as Adrien's face clouded with hurt, betrayal, sadness, and confusion all at once, green eyes darkening, standing out around the bruise the encircled his eye. He lowered his head, bringing his hands up to his hair as well.

"No," he started to murmur himself. "No. No! No! Why is this happening to me?!" His agonized shout echoed across the empty streets. "Why? Why? Why?!" A loud screamed escaped his throat as he leaned forward, resting his forehead on the ground. Then he fell silent, pressing his palms against the concrete.

"Ade…" Cassie whispered again, watching as her cousin worked through his emotions of figuring out how badly they had tried to defeat each other… _kill_ each other. She tried to kill her cousin. "Oh my God," she murmured.

"Oh my God." The voice came from behind them and Cassie twisted around to find Ladybug standing behind her, eyes and mouth wide open, staring at the two. Adrien pushed himself upwards and looked over at Ladybug. Her eyes shifted and stared at him. "Adrien," she whispered. "I don't…understand…" Then she shook her head, de-transforming so that Tikki appeared at her side.

"Marinette," Adrien whispered back. He got to his feet, brushing off his knees as he did so. Cassie slowly stood up as well. First Adrien, now Marinette…it should've been harder to figure out who was behind the identities of her enemies. But for one to be someone so close to her…?

"Well, looks like the cat's out of the bag," Plagg remarked as he, Tikki, and Fangg all moved near each other. Fangg snarled towards him and he hissed back. Tikki moved in between the two of them and pushed them apart.

"Look, this isn't what we should be focusing on at the moment," She declared, glaring at the two. "We have to stop Hawk Moth!"

"I don't get why he wanted to attack here in the first place," Fangg commented, tilting his head.

"As a distraction," Cassie said after a second. She ran a hand through her hair. "Ade told me in a letter…he's always trying to take over Paris. He must've found that we were here and tried to take us down here before leaving Paris unattended."

"But how would he know that?" Adrien demanded.

Marinette shrugged, turning away for a moment. A strange sense of silence settled over the three superheroes. Cassie lowered her gaze to her feet, trying not to look at Adrien once more. It would make it too real that her cousin was Cat Noir. When she transformed into Wolfsbane she literally became Wolfsbane; her thoughts and emotions transformed from those of her own to the ones of the entity that had been passed along for ages. When she was Wolfsbane, she wasn't Cassie. But to know she had become that close to killing him and being killed by him…

The others had to have been dealing with the same thoughts; of becoming a different person while using the abilities their Miraculouses gave them. Finally, Fangg broke the silence.

"So what are we going to do?" He asked. "Paris is under attack and we're all here."

"We have to stop Hawk Moth," Marinette said as if it were obvious.

"Yeah, but how?" Adrien questioned. "We've fought against his akumas on more than one occasion and we keep losing."

"Right," Marinette agreed. "But we haven't taken down _Hawk Moth_." She shook her head. "He's the one that's controlling all of them, and if they're as strong as these guys were," She gestured around the clearing that had just been filled with akumas. "Then it's going to be hard. We can't take them down without taking down the source." She looked Cassie and Adrien in the eye and Cassie could see she was pushing 'Marinette' aside and was taking on the persona of 'Ladybug' without having transformed. "We'll have to go up against Hawk Moth himself."

"Yes, well, we can't do that without getting something to eat first," Plagg pointed out. He turned to Adrien and dropped down onto his shoulder. "I'm starving," he said. Then he looked up at his ward with a concerned look. "If Paris is taken down, there won't be any more Camembert."

"I'm glad you have your priorities set straight," Adrien said sarcastically to his kwami. But he smiled a little, reaching up and running his finger over his head.

"Yeah, we should get these guys something to eat," Cassie added. She picked up Fangg and gently held him in her hands. "Then we'll go after Hawk Moth. We're not too far from the house." She tilted her head back towards the house they were to stay in that past weekend. "Let's get them some food."

The three hurried back as quickly as they could go, running through the eerily quiet streets. Once arriving back at the house, they quickly took in some food, giving others to their kwamis as they came up with a battle plan. They weren't sure it was going to work, but they had to try something. As it was, it was the only plan they had so far.

"We're going to have to fight him together," Marinette declared once they were ready to go. "All three of us." Adrien and Cassie nodded back to her. "Tikki, spots on!"

"Plagg, claws out!" Adrien cried.

"Fangg, howl up!" Cassie cried.

With a bright glow coming from a set of earrings, a ring, and a broach, the three teens morphed into Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Wolfsbane. Once they were all transformed there was another bright flash of light, this time coming from her earrings and shining at her yo-yo as well. Ladybug's eyes widened in surprise and she held onto her yo-yo; closing her hands around it, her entire body started to glow. When she opened her eyes again, they were filled with a sense of determination.

A power surge.

Wolfsbane smiled.

"Lucky Charm!" Marinette cried, throwing her yo-yo into the air.

* * *

Hawk Moth gritted his teeth as he watched his akuma monsters get taken down one by one by the three Miraculouses. This wasn't the way things were supposed to go. They were supposed to have been taken down, he was supposed to take over Paris, and he was supposed to take their Miraculouses.

"All of my akumas," Hawk Moth said, raising his hands. "Fight hard. Don't give up. Take down Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Wolfsbane. Take their Miraculouses! Bring them to me!" He lowered his hands, tapping them down onto the platform, the vibrations running through his feet and down the legs of the Eiffel tower. He watched as wave after wave of akumas continued to attack the three Miraculouses and watched as the three continued to take them down.

This wasn't working.

They weren't doing what he had expected. How hard was it supposed to be? Even some of his first akumas that attacked him were close to defeating them each time. And now there were hundreds, thousands coming in his way and he couldn't stop them. Hawk Moth gritted his teeth together, tightening his jaws as the seconds passed and more and more akumas were released into the sky. Ladybug's special power had to have run out by now but as the seconds passed she kept going. She must've gotten stronger somehow, the others too.

"Well, they've never seen my special power," Hawk Moth murmured, his eyes darting this way and that to follow the trails of all of the akumas that fluttered by him, escaping as quickly as they could. The three superheroes were getting closer now. He had to make his move. "And now they're going to get a sneak peek." Hawk Moth raised his cane and tapped it against the ground once more. "Wings of Change."

A pair of bright wings slid out of Hawk Moth's back and he leapt off of the balcony, swooping towards the ground. Gaining speed as he went, Hawk Moth spun his cane left and right, taking down his own akuma monsters as he passed by them. Butterflies erupted from their broken pieces and fluttered away as the human he took over reverted back to their normal selves. And he continued to speed towards the three Miraculouses. He then pulled himself high into the air and beat his wings as hard as he could, causing a great gust of wind to fly forward. It took down even more of the akumas that were in his way and caught Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Wolfsbane in the blast, knocking them off their feet and crashing into cars behind them.

They were soon back on their feet and standing in front of Hawk Moth. "You're going to pay for trying to take down such a beautiful city," Ladybug declared, pointing at him. "I know you want our Miraculouses, but you didn't have to hurt so many people!"

"Why do you think I'm breaking my hold on them?" Hawk Moth raised his cane and tapped it on the ground three times. All of the akumatized monsters came to a sudden halt.

"What?" Wolfsbane gasped, looking around. "What's going on?"

"He's breaking his hold on them," Adrien noted.

Hawk Moth grinned. There was a sudden blinding wave of purified butterflies fling through the air until the only ones with powers left were himself and the three superheroes. They had never seen the extent of his powers before, now they were getting an up-close and personal look. And it was the last look they were going to get.

 _"Now that you see the kind of power I can exhibit, you may as well give up now,"_ Hawk Moth said telepathically. He watched as the three superheroes brought their hands up to cover their ears, slowly realizing that the voice was coming from inside their heads. _"I'd hate to make your fight against me to painful."_ His eyes narrowed a fraction and he sent a shock of pain through their heads, causing Ladybug to fall to her knees. His eyes narrowed even further when Cat Noir braved through the pain, teeth gritting, to grab Ladybug's arm and help her back to her feet, leaning her against his side. _"But this pain shall be a mercy compared to the other pain I'm about to put you through!"_

With that, he used his wings to shoot forward and punched Cat Noir hard in the stomach, sending him off his feet. The sudden surge of wind as he flew by caused Ladybug to loosen her grip to Cat Noir and she was flung to the ground as well.

"Wolf Rush!" Wolfsbane cried, bringing her hand to her broach. It gleamed as it took in her special power and soon she was moving at the same blinding speed as Hawk Moth. The villain smirked as he arched through the air, Wolfsbane racing after him. She pulled out her scythe and slashed towards him, the blade catching him on the leg. He growled in frustration, she wasn't supposed to be able to hit him at all. It wasn't how it was supposed to work.

Suddenly flipping around, Hawk Moth brought up his feet and kicked Wolfsbane right in the face, sending her reeling backwards. Cat Noir and Ladybug took her place and immediately launched their attack. Ladybug let out a cry of effort, throwing her yo-yo forward and it encircled around Hawk Moth, slapping his arms to his sides. With his wings pinned to his back, Hawk Moth felt himself starting to fall. Cat Noir followed up as he leapt after him, bringing his metal pole high above his head and slashed it down.

Hawk Moth sent out another telepathic blast and the two Miraculouses lost their grips, falling to the ground. Suddenly free, Hawk Moth pushed open his wings, breaking the hold of Ladybug's yo-yo and surged backwards. He landed on the ground and spun his cane in his hand. "Now, this is starting to become very boring," he said in a slow drawl. "Let's see what you can do up close!"

With that he launched himself into an attack once more with Ladybug, Cat Noir, and Wolfsbane encircling around him. Every time he knocked one of out the way he turned back to the next one and took them down, before turning to the last and doing it all over again. Over and over the four continued to spin as they were locked in battle; his cane a great weapon against the metal pole, scythe, and yo-yo that alternatively came flying his way. Finally, with a blinding burst of speed, Wolfsbane shot forward and rammed right into his chest.

"Argh!" Hawk Moth flew backwards, losing his grip on his cane. He slammed hard onto the ground and his cane scattered away from him. Looking up, he hurried after it, but Ladybug's yo-yo got there first. It started to pull back towards her, but he grabbed onto the toy end and was pulled towards Ladybug as the retractable line started to reel in.

"Wha-?!" Ladybug cried in surprise, realizing that Hawk Moth was coming closer to her at a fast paced speed. Hawk Moth brought up his knee and hit her in the chest, knocking her backwards. The yo-yo came lose form his cane and he followed up with a hard crack of his cane against the side of her head.

"Ladybug!" Cat Noir cried. He growled, turning to Hawk Moth and elongated his metal pole. "Alright Hawk Moth, now you have to deal with me."

Hawk Moth rolled his neck and shoulders. "Shouldn't be too hard," he murmured. "You're so much weaker than Ladybug. It should be easy to take you down." He chuckled as Cat Noir's green eyes narrowed, a growl escaping his lips. "You're just her little pet, always doing the dirty work for her while she takes all the glory."

Shaking his head, Cat Noir clenched his hand into a fist. "You're wrong! Ladybug and I are a team! We have each other's backs!"

"Less talking and more fighting," Wolfsbane pointed out. She brought a hand up to her broach. "I don't have much time left."

"We don't need a lot of time," Cat Noir declared, bringing his hand up. "Five minutes is all I'm going to need to take his guy down." A deep, rumbling, purr exuded from his chest. "And it's going to be purr-fect."

"I'd like to see that happen," Hawk Moth replied, mimicking his growl.

"And you're going to see it soon," Ladybug declared, standing up as well. "Say your prayers Hawk Moth, you're going to need them." She looked over at Cat Noir and nodded. "Go get im' Cat Noir."

He nodded back. "Cataclysm!" He called and his left hand glowed a dark black, taking on his special power. _That's interesting,_ Hawk Moth thought. _He's never tried to use his special power against a human before. This should be very fun. _With that, Cat Noir shot forward and started to swing his claws around towards Hawk Moth. Hawk Moth continued to use his wings to keep himself just out of Cat Noir's reach, bouncing back and forth with each swipe that came his way. Hawk Moth blocked each of his shots out of the way. "Wolfsbane, now!"

All of a sudden there was a rush of air and Hawk Moth felt himself falling backwards. He crashed to the ground with Cat Noir standing a few meters away. He nodded over to Ladybug. "Ladybug?"

"Right!" Ladybug threw her yo-yo towards Hawk Moth and kept his arms around his sides once more. "You can do it, Cat Noir."

Cat Noir moved towards Hawk Moth and brought his hand down, striking him in the chest. Hawk Moth screamed with rage as the butterfly pendent on his chest popped off. Ladybug raced forward and grasped it in her hand. There were multiple flashes of light at the same time. Hawk Moth's eyes shifted over to Cassie as she transformed back from Wolfsbane, falling to her knees with Fangg hovering by her side. His eyes widened. _Cassie is Wolfsbane…Marinette is Ladybug…_ he thought. Then his eyes landed on Cat Noir once more. _That means…_

Then he spotted Cat Noir's eyes widening in recognition as Gabriel looked up at him. Then the realization struck Gabriel and settled in his stomach. "D-Dad?" Adrien gasped.

"Adrien," Gabriel replied, voice hoarse. He swallowed hard as he gazed at his son, his _enemy._ "Can't say I saw this coming."

* * *

Adrien held his breath as he leaned against the far wall of the bakery. His hands were filled with sweat and he was sure he would pass out just from how fast his heart was beating as opposed to the heat on that warm day. Every few minutes he would look over towards the door to see if Marinette had left her house yet. She was usually so punctual, what was taking her so long this time?

It had been almost a month since Paris had been saved by himself, Ladybug, and Wolfsbane and things were getting back to normal. Well, as normal as things could be; patrols for Hawk Moth— _his father_ —and akumatized monsters were mandatory for each day and everything that was found was messaged to Cat Noir and Ladybug for them to follow up on. The way of life had changed a little bit, some residents were too afraid to go outside in case they would be attacked once more others refused to let anything take over the way they lived and went about their lives as usual.

Except for him.

His father still lived in the house and yet Adrien was in the process of leaving. At the moment he was staying at Nino's place and there was nothing short of happy to be with a family that knew what truly being a family meant. His relationship with Cassie was strained. Knowing it was her as Wolfsbane was a hard pill to swallow and yet she was still his favorite cousin. It was her alter ego that _his_ own alter ego was trying to destroy, not Cassie. If they could push that aside somehow…maybe re-worked history… _History_. History was always hard to get around. His history with his father was next to impossible to break through. He couldn't stand to be around his father anymore, not knowing what had happened with Hawk Moth and seeing that his father's actions after his revelation didn't change. He was still short with Adrien, bossing him around when he got the chance. Maybe it was too hard for him to come to terms with it, with everything that had happened. Maybe it was easier for his father to pretend like nothing happened.

Their conversations when running into each other consisted of hellos and goodbyes and, honestly, that was how Adrien wanted it. It was hard enough to know his father had so much power that legal ramifications may not touch him. Still, that wasn't the point.

He needed to talk to Marinette. Over the past month they worked well together as Cat Noir and Ladybug, not mentioning what was going on in their personal lives—though that had caused many awkward moments until they got their groove back—and focusing on the work that was needed to rebuild the city. As Adrien and Marinette they didn't speak much and there was a lot he had to say.

"Adrien?"

Turning to the side, he found Marinette standing at the street corner, her hands on the straps of her backpack. Adrien's eyes moved to her hand and his heart sank when he found that she wasn't carrying a brown paper back as she had the rest of the times she had brought breakfast for him. "Marinette," he said, taking a few steps towards her then stopped.

It was as if a canyon stretched between them rather than a few steps.

Marinette tilted her head and waited for him to say something. Adrien chewed his lower lip and took in a deep breath. "I wanted to apologize," he finally said. "For everything. For keeping my secret, for not trusting you, for yelling at you like that, for keeping me _other_ secret,"—that, though, was a decision the two of them had made so it wasn't entirely his fault—"…everything." Marinette nodded. "And I wanted to explain myself."

"You don't have—"

"Yes," Adrien interrupted her. "Yes, I do. I need to explain everything." He took another deep breath. "It's been going on for a long time but…my father's been beating me. At first it was an accident, I believed it way anyway. I hadn't gotten a good grade on a test and he whacked me in the face. Almost immediately he apologized and said it wouldn't happen again. But it did. Again and again and again. And before I knew it, it was just the way we worked and I did my best to keep away from him. My father was already pretty strict but it got to the point that I was completely terrified of him. The long nights working on his fashion line and his late night drinking didn't help matters much. And for a long time I didn't think anything was going to help me." He met Marinette's eyes and a sigh escaped his lips.

"Before I really got the chance to get to know you," he continued. "I mean, we've been friends for a long time and we knew each other, but we never really _knew_ each other. Being paired up for this project really helped and it made me feel like I could be myself around you. So much of myself that it kind of scared me because I had to keep it hidden for so long. I wasn't lying about those things I said about you before; that you're fun and compassionate and always looking out for everyone else. I guess the only thing that I wasn't honest about was how long I've liked you."

"Adrien…" Marinette trailed off, unsure of what to say. Or maybe unable to find her words. There was a lot that she had to take in.

"But I could tell you or let anyone else know because my father wouldn't let me around anyone. It was too dangerous to let people get too close. Nino was the only one that knew all of my secrets. I bet he knew about me being Cat Noir a long while before I had no choice but to tell him." That's what he suspected, anyway. After the battle to save Lyon and Paris, Adrien had told Nino his secret and his best friend had hardly batted an eye; he did his best to recover and act surprised but Adrien wasn't buying it. "But I don't have any of my secrets anymore. Today I'm going to call the police and tell them what my father has been doing to me. They might not believe me, but I've told someone. Someone that matters."

Now Marinette's eyes lit up and she smiled, taking a step towards him. "That's great, Adrien," she said to him, touching his arm for a second. Then she quickly removed her hand as if burned. "I'm glad you're getting some help no matter where you can get it."

"Yeah, me too. But that's not all. I'm also going to emancipate myself. Right now I'm living with Nino and I'll keep doing that for the rest of schooling but I'll be on my own. I'm old enough. I have my own money, my own skills that can get me a job…school…I think I'll be happier."

"Seems like it," Marinette said. Then something clicked with her and her forehead wrinkled. "School," She murmured. Then she snapped her fingers. "That's why you wanted to do the project topic," she said. "On abuse. Because…because you were trying to work through your problems. Because you were trying to reach out for help." She shook her head, lowering her gaze. "I knew something was going on. I could tell. I just…I just wasn't sure. I'm sorry, Adrien, I—"

"—whoa, what are _you_ apologizing for?"

"I should've said something," Marinette said. "When I begged and pleaded for you to tell me something was wrong. You said to forget it and, I should've pressed more. Maybe I could've helped you sooner. I knew…back when you were having dinner with us. I had an idea then. Oh, Adrien, I'm sorry."

"Marinette." Adrien clasped his hands over hers. "It's okay. Everything's fine now. You don't have to apologize. Really."

"If that's what you want," Marinette said with a shrug. Her eyes searched his and she started to turn away.

Adrien moved quickly and pounced in front of her, hoping to keep her from walking away from him before he got everything out. "And there was something else I wanted," he continued, looking her right in the eye. He saw her lower lip trembling. "I want you, Marinette," he said. "I know we've gone around each other for a long time about this, but I don't regret that kiss. I don't regret you. I regret lying about everything and hurting you but I want to see if we can try things out."

"Really?" Marinette asked. Her eyebrows furrowed as she studied his face. "Y-you really want to be with me? _Me?"_

A chuckle escaped Adrien's lips. "Yes, you," he insisted.

"But…" Marinette's words died on her lips as Adrien took a step forward and placed his hands on her cheeks and looked straight into her eyes. "Adrien…"

"You can tell me," he insisted. "Whatever it is."

Marinette took a step back, allowing Adrien's hands to fall to his sides. She crossed her arms and continued to look at him, tilted her head back and looked at the sky, then lowered her chin and looked at him once more. "I want that too," she admitted. "So much. But maybe we should wait until after you tell the police, to take the pressure off a little bit."

"Oh." Adrien frowned. "Okay."

Reaching out her hand, Marinette took Adrien's in his, squeezing it firmly, comfortingly. "But I'll be there when you do," she promised. "I mean, we have to have each other's backs right?"

Adrien grinned and squeezed her hand back. "Right."

Before he used his alter ego of Cat Noir as a constructive way to release his frustrations, now he could use it to protect Marinette and his friends even further. Adrien reached his free hand into his pocket, his fingers brushing over the butterfly pendent in his pocket.

That was just the way he wanted it.

* * *

 **THE END**

* * *

 **A/N:** And that was the last chapter and I think the first story where it had story plots filled with an openended ending for you all to fill in! Honestly, I think this could've been better and more fleshed out if I took out the subplot of Cassie, but what are you going to do? I was too deep in the story for that. But, hey, if I do a sequel maybe I'll deal with Cat Noir vs. Wolfsbane and explain what's going on with that and how it's been affected by knowing each other's real identities. Oh and you know, Adrien's relationship with Marinette, of course.

Anyway, _thank you all_ for alerting, favoriting, and reviewing this story. It was my first work with Miraculous and I had the idea as soon as I saw the first episode. Honestly, I think it may have been better if I waited until the end of the season so I could have had more background on Miraculouses and how Adrien and Marinette got their powers before writing it. But I had fun writing it, it was a learning experience for working in this fandom and you guys really helped me with motivation to keep writing.

I'm glad you all enjoyed it and that you stuck around for the entire story. Again, this is planned as a standalone for now, but who knows, I may make another one soon. I know my sisters are working on some so that's exciting as well.

Thanks again.

 **Cheers,**

 **-Riles**


End file.
